To realize a safe, secure and comfortable society and to maintain and promote people’s health
Ergonomics started by scientifically seeking the best and least tiring way to use muscles when working. There are tasks that force people to walk a long way, carrying heavy loads. Keeping the same posture without any alterations can be a factor that causes people to feel fatigued.
Use of ergonomically designed tools or equipment and the introduction of ergonomically formed measures that help to reduce work-related physical strain largely contribute to safety assurance as well as prevention of musculoskeletal disorders such as back pain and increases in productivity. Although the percentage of workers in the first and second industries has kept on declining domestically as the industrial structure changes, back pain currently still accounts for about 60% of work-related disorders (“Study on work-related disorders” by Ministry of Labor, Health and Welfare, 2008). We still have a lot of issues that should be solved by the introduction of ergonomics.
On the other hand, the number of workers in the third industry has rapidly grown since the 1950s, accounting for more than 60% of all workers now. As the industrial structure changes dramatically, the expectation for ergonomics has also changed with time. These days, since people work more with their eyes and brain on a daily basis, eye strain and mental stress are often found in their complaints. Display equipment installed in air planes, cars or control rooms or tools and instruments for controlling output can lead, if inappropriately designed, to huge accidents or disasters. Working forms have been certainly shifting from simple tasks that are high in physical stress to static muscular work with low workload and high constraint such as monitoring or VDT work using computers. Besides taking measures against the increase of these mental workloads at work, in our daily life, we also need to deal with the spread of new types of displays and interfaces that bring us new utility, such as wide screen TVs with 3D function and ubiquitous interfaces. Ergonomics not only plays an important role in establishing smooth interaction in using these appliances (comfortable and effective operation), but also contributes to the harmony and symbiosis of humans, machines and environments.
In short, ergonomics is a practical science that helps us to achieve safety, security and comfort and to maintain and improve our health. Therefore the domains it covers vary significantly.
The figure below systematically shows the domains ergonomics deals with.
Expanding target domains of ergonomics – Systems ergonomics model –
(modified from a slide in “Ergonomics Initiatives at an International Level, 2008” by former president of the IEA, D. Caple)
“Other elements” which are dealt with in ergonomics besides “humans” include “(a) tasks,” “(b) tools/equipment,” “(c) design,” “(d) environment,” “(e) organizations” and “(f) culture/laws.” Combining “these elements ((a) – (f))” with “our various social life scenes” helps us to look at the whole picture of target areas that ergonomics covers.
In workplaces, various kinds of research and practices are handled ergonomically: optimization of work design (a), design of safe tools/machines and measures against excessive workloads (b), design of safe and healthy work environments and workstations (c), measures against heat, noise, vibration and hazardous substances (d), proper setting of working and resting time and shift work schedule (e) and establishment of organizational culture, safety culture and leadership (f). Ergonomics has also played an active part in our daily life and transportation, and helped us to meet the needs of society and solve problems: welfare equipment design or universal design to support aging society (b, c), design of proper classroom equipment and environments adjusted to the growth of elementary school students (b, c, d), application of ergonomics to user-friendly traffic systems for elderly and disabled people (b, c, d) and traffic systems with reduced environmental impact (c, d), and creation of standards for universal access in public transportation (f).
In the sphere of communication, ergonomics has been applied to easy-to-use screens for some software (b) and elderly- and disabled-friendly accessibility guidelines (f), in response to the demand of the information age, serving to eliminate the digital divide in this information-oriented society that becomes more and more sophisticated and multifunctional.
Ergonomics is aiming to realize a safe, secure and comfortable society and maintain and promote your health.
It is always around you and supports your life.
References: Importance of Ergonomics and its Role in Society
4 responses to “Importance of Ergonomics and its Role in Society”
Ergonomi sangat penting dalam perancangan menyangkut keselamatan dan kesehatan bekerja.
Dapat disimpulkan ergonomi yang baik memiliki kreteria seperti
1. Aman = Yang berarti keselamatan kerja terjamin
2. Sehat = Yang berarti ksehatan pemakai terjamin
3. Efektif = Yang berarti tujuan kerja tercapai
4. Nyaman = Yang berarti kenyamanan dalam bekerja terjamin
5. Efesien = yang berarti bahwa pekerjaan dapat dilakukan secara efisien (tujuan kerja tercapai dengan usaha kerja yang optimal atau tidak berlebihan).
Kadang sebuah kantor tidak memenuhi ergonomi dalam perancangan kantornya. Padahal ada beberapa manfaat apabila menerapkan ergonomi dalam perancangan kantor. Seperti:
a. Kinerja karyawan
karyawan lebih aman dalam bekerja sehingga mereka tidak ragu-ragu lagi dalam melaksanakan proses bekerja, membuat mereka (karyawan) nyaman dalam bekerja sehingga membuat hasil pekerjaan menjadi maksimal
b. Keamanan kerja
Pekerjaan tidak lagi berbahaya bagi para orang yang berada di tempat bekerja, terutama para pelaku produk, Keamanan kerja yang terjamin simbol sebuah perusahaan yang besar, dan terpercaya
c. Pengeluaran perusahaan
Pengeluaran perusahaan dapat lebih hemat karena biaya pengobatan bagi karyawan yang mengalami kecelakaan kerja menjadi kecil (resiko kecelakaan kerja menjadi lebih sedikit) , investasi yang sangat berguna bagi perusahaan dan seluruh komponen pendukung perusahaan (selamatnya karyawan, citra perusahaan dimata masyarakat luas terhadap hal, keselamatan kerja yang menaikkan pamor perusahaan
d. Hasil produksi/kerja
Hasil produksi lebih sesuai standar yang diharapkan karena kerja karyawan yang maksimal, karena karyawan bekerja lebih maksimal dikarenakan aman dalam bekerja, produksi sesuai date line karena minimnya kecelakaan kerja yang terjadi terutama kecelakaan kerja yang dapat menghambat produksi
e. Perusahaan
Perusahaan dapat menjadi salah satu contoh atau acuan dalam menjalani keselamatan kerja, citra perusahaan dapat menjadi baik, proses dari awal sampai akhir produksi menjadi lebih baik sehingga kemungkinan mendapatkan investor ataupun menjadi kepercayaan masyarakat lebih mudah
Jadi tidak rugi menerapkan ergonomi dalam perancangan. Dan membuktikan bahwa ergonomi sangatlah penting.
apakah standar ergonommi hanya diberlakukan di kantor saja? berikan pendapat anda bagaimana keterkaitan dan kegunaan ilmu ergonomi khususnya dalam pekerjaan interior
I agree with the fact that ergonomics is aiming to realize a safe, and comfortable society and maintain and promote our health, but not only in the workplace we have to apply it because we will not only be active in those room. For example, we can apply it to the house cause there’s a lot of activity that goes around the house over and over everyday. But first, we have to observation what kind of the problem that experienced by user, then we can solved the problem with ergonomic and antropometry 🙂
thanks for your opinion that ergonomics is aiming to realize a safe, and comfortable society and maintain and promote our health, but not only in the workplace we have to apply it because we will not only be active in those room