Ergonomics is a term that is used to describe the science that studies the human being in relationship to other important elements, such as its (work) environment. The International Ergonomics Association describes the discipline as one that is 'concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance'. In theory ergonomics can encompass many things, but the reality is that it often focusses on the improvement of comfort and efficiency.
Comfort is often defined by the ease to have things done without any pain or fear. For the working place this could mean that it doesn't require the input of any additional energy or unnatural behaviour.
Efficiency is often described as achieving a goal with the minimum amount of input and wastage.
A workplace that is ergonomically compliant is a workplace where employees see, feel and execute automatically and intuitively. Screens, signs and message are placed in eye-sight, while furniture is adjustable to height, weight and size for each employee individually. Buttons, switches or appliances are placed where people intuitively expect them to be.
The ergonomic preferences of each employee are unique while the importance or appreciation is defined differently in every culture and each gender. Use a specialist to determine the needs.
Embracing your staff means cutting your ring-fenced workplace!
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