Ergonomics 6PS025

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Ergonomics 6PS025

• Module Leader Miles Richardson

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Aim of Lecture

• To introduce the ergonomics approach its
  breadth of coverage
• To understand the guiding principles and theory
  of ergonomics.
• To present the systems nature of ergonomics and
  the centrality of human beings.

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What is Ergonomics?

• Ergonomics (Human Factors in the United States)
  has many definitions FTTTTH.
• Aims to study the fit between people and the
  things they do in order to improve performance,
  well-being, safety and health.
• Prevents bad things (errors, stress etc.),
  creates good things (performance, satisfaction)
• Typically applied at work, but can be leisure,
  home or in public areas (e.g. sport).
• Can be applied to many aspects of our lives.

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Fit the task to the human

• Did the example affect performance? Would it lead
  to fatigue, stress?
• People are adaptable, but have their limits
• Driving and Mobile Phones
• 3 mile island
• Kings Cross Underground Fire
• Fitting the task to the human is ergonomics.
• To do this need knowledge of human
  characteristics.

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Scope of Ergonomics

• The scope of ergonomics is immense.
• Consider all the tasks people perform from the
  mundane to the critical - Opening a jam jar,
  internet banking, using a mobile phone, surgery,
  flying a plane, office work, manual work, skilled
  work.
• Consider where these tasks take place - At home,
  in the library, on a train, at work in nuclear
  power stations, tanks or hospitals.
• Where its hot, cold or noisy, during the day or
  night. Alone or in teams.
• The tasks and environments are endless.

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More on Ergonomics

• The only scientific subject that focuses on the
  interaction between people and the things they
  do.
• Takes a human or user-centred approach
• Involves the application of scientific
  principles, methods and data drawn from a variety
  of disciplines.
• It considers physical, psychological,
  organisational and environmental factors
  knowledge base.
• Applied to practical problems ideally in the
  early stages of task design to prevent problems
• Also employed to analyse tasks after problems
  have been identified.

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Who employs ergonomists?

• Transport TRL, Rail, aerospace.
• Government agencies - Defence industry, HSE
  Nuclear
• Large companies consumer products (Nokia,
  Phillips, BT) and worker health (BP, Shell)
• Universities research centres
• Consultancies supporting all the above
• Usually degree in Psychology or Ergonomics

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Previous Work

• console design
• workspace layout
• HCI design
• user trials
• hearts and minds
• workload measurement
• health and safety

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Ergonomics Knowledge Base

• To evaluate interactions between tasks and people
  we must understand
• The human - the anatomical, physiological and
  psychological characteristics of people the
  ergonomics knowledge base.
• Psychology is fundamental part of this knowledge
  psychology major factor in physical issues (ie
  pain)
• The task ergonomics methods such as task
  analysis.

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History Social Issues

• Knowledge of the history helps us understand the
  scope and aims.
• 1920s experiments into human behaviour at the
  Hawthorne Works in the USA.
• Hawthorne Effect - often used as evidence for
  the importance of social factors, rather than
  physical factors in worker performance.
• Worker performance improved when lighting levels
  were changed, for better or worse.
• Conclusion being that attention from the
  researchers had motivated the workers to work
  harder, demonstrating psychosocial issues at work.

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History WWII

• Interest in the worker accelerated by outbreak of
  WWII
• Rapid development of new technologies.
• Training could not always fit the man to the
  job therefore fit the job to the man.
• Pressure of war brought psychologists into
  contact with human-machine interaction problems.
• Sir Frederick Bartlett investigated the effects
  of stress and fatigue on pilots using a Spitfire
  simulator.
• This increased the knowledge of individual
  differences and informed the psychology of human
  performance.

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New Demands - Spitfire Cockpit
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History Mistakes

• Mistakes during war and there was a need to
  resolve them.
• Radar operators were put on 8 hour shifts until
  it was found that they were missing contacts.
• We now know that vigilance declines quickly and
  tasks need to be designed with this in mind.
• Mistakes shifted the attention from the machine
  to the human and after the war Human Factors and
  Ergonomics groups were formed.

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History Space Race

• A period of rapid expansion was seen in the 60s
  and 70s
• Partly fuelled by the race for manned space
  flight which required an ergonomics input.
• Profession grew beyond its military beginnings
  and was applied to product design and workplaces.
• Computer revolution of the 80s propelled
  ergonomics into the public consciousness.
• User-friendly software, human computer
  interaction (HCI) helped promote cognitive
  ergonomics.

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History Technology

• Technology allowed physical parameters of systems
  to increase
• e.g. bigger faster planes, nuclear reactors
  more complex systems that had to be operated by
  humans.
• Ergonomics input vital as errors more critical
• Ergonomics has a role in preventing disasters -
  research into such areas as human error.
• 90s saw web usability and legislation regarding
  Display Screen Equipment bringing ergonomics
  principles further into the workplace.

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History Present and beyond

• Ergonomics has a role in reducing ill-health and
  the demand on the health services.
• The future - all the above and moves into
  ergonomics and the quality of life?
• Ergonomics has a hierarchy of goals.
• Aim may be to produce tolerable work that does
  not pose a threat to life or health.
• Traditionally goal is for optimal conditions well
  adapted to human characteristics so that
  physical, mental and social well-being is
  achieved.

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Hedonomics

• Recently further goal identified
• Hedonomics achieving pleasurable use, requires
  a different perspective
• Not how to evaluate the user, but how the user
  evaluates a product.
• Incorporating user-satisfaction into look and
  feel of mobile phones Yun et al (2003)
• Experimental methods to look at effect of shape,
  colour, size, materials on satisfaction.

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Paradigms

• Ergonomics can be applied to all tasks and the
  environments, organisations they take place in.
• Some situations more important that others? -
  cockpit design of an airliner is of considerable
  importance.
• Opening a jam jar is not critical, but can be a
  practical everyday difficulty to certain
  populations
• Well-designed video recorder is less frustrating,
  but has little, if any, impact on well-being,
  safety or health
• Examples reveal paradigms in ergonomics -
  Designing for individuals versus populations and
  working in normal versus critical circumstances.

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Debates

• Aim to improve health and well-being, but
• Does fitting the task to the human mean catering
  for obesity as the popn becomes bigger?
• Does ergonomics increase efficiency, reduce
  energy expenditure and contribute to obesity?
• Hedonomics can ergonomics really aim to go
  beyond well-being and meet social needs and
  achieve self-actualisation in the workplace?

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Systems Ergonomics

• Peoples activities are not carried out in a
  vacuum
• Interaction between the user and their work often
  involves equipment or technology.
• This takes place in some form of workspace, which
  itself is located in the wider environment and
  work organisation.
• All of which affect task performance.

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human-task-environment model

• This human-task-environment model (or Ergonomics
  Onion) is a useful reminder of the potential
  influences on performance and demonstrates the
  systems nature of ergonomics

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Types of Systems

• A system has parts and a function with inputs and
  outputs.
• There is an interaction between the parts of a
  system.
• Systems can be small with closed boundaries (a
  person using a coffee pot)
• Or larger, open systems, with unknown boundaries,
  for example a hospital.
• The human is part of a system and interacts with
  it.
• The human takes information from the system,
  processes it and responds and therefore must be
  fully integrated into the system.

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Fitting systems to people

• Human requirements define system requirements
  for
• Safe and usable equipment.
• Tasks that are compatible with the users mental
  abilities and limitations
• An appropriate environment in which the task is
  performed.
• Work organisation that recognises the users
  social needs.
• Compatibility during interactions between the
  human and the system.
• Ergonomics can be applied to a coffee pot or
  hospital

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System Interactions

• Ergonomics aims to improve systems by improving
  the interactions between users and other elements
  in the system.
• Complexity of systems can be seen if we consider
  a simple system with three elements, a human, a
  piece of equipment and an environment.
• Human gt Equipment - Human control of the
  equipment - Skill, workload etc.
• Equipment gt Human - Feedback display of
  information - Display design, info load etc.
• Environment gt Human - Environment may affect
  humans work - Noise, lighting, temperature etc.

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Work Systems are Complex

• Systems in reality are hierarchical.
• human-task-environment model suggests macro and
  micro view.
• Introduces the concept of a top down or bottom up
  approach.
• Micro - problems for call centre workers may
  begin with a bottom up evaluation of the computer
  system interface
• Macro - or consideration from the top down of
  shiftwork and job rotation.

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In your spare time...

• Consider your knowledge of psychology in relation
  to every task you do and mistake you make.

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Further Reading

• Chapter 1 Bridger (2003) Introduction to
  Ergonomics
• Any ergonomics text 620.82
• The Adolescence of Engineering Psychology a
  brief account of the emergence of engineering
  psychologists.
• www.hfes.org/publications/ProductDetail.aspx?Produ
  ctID27