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Essay on ergonomics in the work place
Conclusion of office Ergonomics assignment
Ergonomics involves designing workplaces and work tools
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Ergonomics, human engineering or human factors engineering is the science of creating products or designing machines which maximize safety, comfort or efficiency of people who use them.
People who work with ergonomics apply general principles of industrial engineering, psychology, anthropometrics, which is the science of human measurement, and even biomechanics to adapt certain designs of products or workplaces to peoples constitution, strengths and limitations.
This science also takes into consideration peoples reactions and the amount of time they need to process a specific task or information received from their environment, as well as the capacity of dealing with certain psychological factors, mainly stress and isolation.
Once a study about a certain group of peoples reactions to their environment has been made, people who design with ergonomics attempt to develop the best possible design for a system or product.
Ergonomists view people and a the object or machine they will use as a sole unit, and the ergonomic approach to design blends the persons abilities with those of the machine.
When designing one must take into account the several limitations of both the mechanical and the human factor involved in a certain workspace. Human beings need to rest or experience less stress when realizing a certain task or they will spend their energies quickly and begin making mistakes when working, they are also subject to illness, accidents and the need of rest. The mechanical factor is also subjected to several limitations, for instance, they cannot repair themselves nor adapt to dynamic or unexpected situations as well as human.
An ergonomically designed system should therefore take advantage of the strengths of each of the components involved to provide optimal performance, an almost "symbiosis" between man and machine.
Ergonomists contribute to the design and evaluation of tasks, jobs, products, environments and systems in order to make them compatible with the needs, abilities and limitations of people.
Ergonomics are commonly divided into three main domains:
Physical ergonomics
Cognitive ergonomics
Organizational ergonomics
Physical ergonomics usually deals with the field of the human body's reaction to physical or physiological work. Relevant to this field of application is the materials a workers has to work with, the layout at his workstation, the physical demands of his job and different types of risks such as repletion, vibration, forces or awkward and static postures since all of these factors have been determined to cause musculoskeletal disorders known as repetitive strain injury's.
Repetitive strain injury, also called repetitive stress injury, is a group of conditions that comes from the overuse of computers, typewriters and other similar motions or tools.
...signed job, supported by a well-designed workplace and proper tools, allows the worker to avoid unnecessary motion of the neck, shoulders and upper limbs. Meaning the actual performance of the tasks depends on individuals. Make sure to always observe the workplace. If it looks like it’s an unfit workplace and you can easily get injured. Walk away. There is nothing better than to make sure that your job and health are okay when it comes to the workplace. Great ergonomics means great Workplace.
STEIN, F., SODERBACK, I., CUTLER, S., LARSON, B., 2006. Occupational therapy and ergonomics. Applying ergonomic principals to everyday occupation in the home and at work. London: Whurr Publishers.
A., de Rijk, A., Van Hoof, E., & Donceel, P. 2011). The therapist has to assess the patient to see if they have a need for splints or supports which may benefit the patient and then step in to help design the specific assistive devices needed. It is the job of the occupational therapist to come up with plans to overcome the inconvenient limitations while still helping the patient to reduce strain and prevent further damage by teaching them techniques that will conserve their energy. There are a variety of different ways to make daily living much easier. The most crucial part of therapy is assessing the patient's environment. All the people, cultural conditions and physical objects that are around them, create their environment. The behavior and development of people is a direct result of the interaction between them and their surroundings. A patient's behavior is greatly affected when they are mismatched with their environment. A person's environment match is present when the person's level of competence matches the demands of the environment. Full participation by the patient is required to make it practicable. “The science and practice of occupational therapy are well suited to develop, refine, and test approaches to translate therapeutic gains into
...e-based knowledge to inform the therapy practice. It also assists with furthering the therapist’s knowledge of humans as occupational beings as well as the relationship between occupation and health.(Yexer ,1993) introduced occupational science as a fundamental science supporting occupational therapy, with an aim to refocus the provision of therapy back to occupation. Hence, occupational science provides the therapists with support, justifies the meaning and uniqueness of the profession and distinguishes occupational therapy from other professions. In addition (Wilcock, 2001), also emphasises that occupational science might be another way to avoid the possible failure of the occupational therapy as a practice. With a strong research background, occupational therapists could make a contribution to medical science, which may challenge it from a different standpoint.
...tivities with proper mechanics, safely so that further injury does not occur. Mainly educating people how to change their movements and posture. This proves my thesis by stating a specific technique used to help improve the way in which one performs his/hers daily routines.
The Regulations set out a framework to help employers avoid or reduce the risk of injury resulting from manual handling activities. The basic principle is that where manual handling of loads, which involves a risk of injury (particularly to the back) is present, the employer must take measures to avoid or reduce the need for such manual handling.
Horrey, William J., Wickens, Christopher D., Spring 2006. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. vol. 48 no. 1. pg. 196-205
...hese complex machines make work easier for us. Simple machines are also useful. For one they make up all complex machines. They also make work more manageable.
What is ergonomics? Ergonomics is the science of fitting the job to the worker. When there is a mismatch between the physical requirements of the job and the physical capacity of the worker, work-related musculoskeletal disorders can result. Workers who must repeat the same motion throughout their workday, work in an awkward position use a great deal of force to perform, repeatedly lift heavy objects or face a combination of these risk factors are most likely to develop work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
workability of the machine is just an objectification of this peace of mind. The ultimate
Hegeman, J. (2008). The Thinking Behind Design. Master Thesis submitted to the school of design, Carngie Mellon University. Retrieved from: http://jamin.org/portfolio/thesis-paper/thinking-behind-design.pdf.
In order to keep up with current Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements, employers must ensure they take all the aspects required into consideration and educate their employees on the security and safety measures to be taken as well as updating them on the procedures relevant to their duties. OSHA is in charge of upholding and conducting standards measures that are lawfully imposed by the state and federal agencies. It requires every company to have well educated, trained employees on safety issues and who are able to apply these training into practice to ensure they achieve a healthy working environment. Employees need to be educated on the safety of the equipment they use in their place of work too.
Wisner, Alain. The Etienne Grandjean Memorial Lecture: Situated Cognition and Action-Implications for Ergonomics Work Analysis and Anthropotechnology. Ergonomics, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1995, Vol. 38, No.8, Pgs. 1542-1557.
The use of the computer has had a positive impact on manufacturing engineering in many ways. Engineering is a term applied to the profession in which a knowledge of the mathematical and natural sciences, gained by study, experience and practice, is applied to the efficient use of the materials and forces of nature. The term engineer denotes a person who has received professional training in pure and applied sciences.
In today's society, robots come in different types and qualities, and robots’ use was mainly in the laboratories and factories; however, that has drastically changed where their uses are changing at a high speed. In addition to that, they have spread throughout the world. The main function of robots is to replace the work that people used to do, or perform tasks that man cannot. A robot is a mechanical or virtual device that uses a computer program, or electronic circuitry, to carry out its functions. In modern science, robotics refers to the study of robots is robotics, which deals with designing, constructing, operating, and using robots and computer systems for controlling and processing information and providing feedbacks. However, as much as robots replace human labor, individuals or organizations can use them in dangerous environments that might be harmful and beneficial to humans. Therefore, to understand the logic behind the creation of robots, one should learn the pros and cons of robotics, in the current society. This is because people are using this technology without having a deep understanding of its effects. However, an objective evaluation of the use of robots, in the modern society, shows that they have a positive influence on human beings, but if the robots were overused, it could lead to a negative side. which shows why human beings should use robots wisely that will result an improvement to their societies and own lives. Robots have become interactive equipment whereby they have become part of human life. In this regard, people use them directly or indirectly to enhance the quality of their lives. However, Sharkey argues that there are ethical issues that arise because of using robots to enhance hu...