Ergonomics essays

Ergonomics essays One of the key issues at work places is the high stress level of employees and the need to be able to reduce such work related stress in order to benefit both the employee and the company. Although there are many different factors that contribute to having stress and stress related injuries it became important that businesses also take into account the human environment factors that their employees faced. This in turn gave rise to a new branch of science called Ergonomics, a fairly new concept that is only about 50 years old. (ergonomics.org.uk/ergonomics.htm). Ergonomics is derived from the Greek words Ergos, which means work, and Nomos which means "laws" which is where we get the idea of Laws of Work. Ergonomics can be further defined as being "the applied science of equipment design, intended to reduce operator fatigue and discomfort, or as OSHA puts it, the science of fitting the job to the worker." (pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec99/ergonomics_11-22.html). According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, better known as OSHA about one-third of all workplace injuries is caused by "a bad fit between workers and the equipment". Statistics like these gave rise to OSHA's new proposal which now require employers to implement atleast a "basic ergonomics program that includes assigning someone to be responsible for ergonomics; providing information to employees on the risk of injuries, as well as signs and symptoms to watch for; and setting up a system for employees to report those signs and symptoms." (pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec99/ergonomics_11-22.html). Furthermore, it is important that both employers and employees be educated and made aware of the hazards of improper or prolonged use of equipment which could range anywhere from typing on the computer, staring at the computer screen all day to picking up heavy boxes which c...