Ergonomics

Definitions

The term “ergonomics” comes from the Greek “Ergon” work and “Nomos” rules. It is in 1949, during the first meeting of the Ergonomics Research Society , that Murrel employed it for the first time.

The systems concerned with this adaptation can be physical spaces of work (for example checkpoints, line productions), elements of these spaces (e.g. synoptic, control), but also of the professional Interface S or general public (one then speaks about man-machine Interface), such as Logiciel S, Internet sites Intranet, as well as the organization of work (rotation of the schedules, organization of the services).

Ergonomics uses knowledge resulting from the industrial physiology, cognitive Psychologie (memory, Attention, Perception, Apprentissage…) and of the psychophysiology (Vigilance, postures, work conditions…), of the sociology of the organizations, social psychology, linguistics, inter alia: in fact all sciences relating to the man.

It is founded on models of the situation of work (in particular that of Jacques Christol, Jacques Leplat and Gilbert de Terssac) which stress the difference in nature between the task (project, instruction, of the field of virtual, the future) and the activity (of the body - of which the brain of course) which takes postures and fact of the movements, actuates orders, actuates voluntarily or not processes of thought, communicates with others, organizes its actions etc

The first feature dominating of the analysis of this activity, it is that the operator " régule" its activity, according to its external environment, of its internal state (tiredness for example) to obtain a maximum of regularity of the performance: acceleration of the rate/rhythm of work to make up for lost time or to deal with urgency, modification of the procedure vis-a-vis the bad quality of the results obtained… The second feature dominating, it is the concept of compromise between the requirements of the performance, (always explicitly or implicitly present) and the requirements related to the compliance with the rules (of safety, of management, techniques, regulatory…). The observer of the activity of work always notes that this compromise exists, and that it is not built like it would like the organizers, by privileging the rule prescribed above all. Reality is more complex, as in the everyday life, where we respect all the speeds limited on the road… except if we are afraid to miss our train, or to arrive late at one make urgent…

This " compromise cognitif" to take again the term of Rene Amalberti (quoted work) is also affected by the psychic aspects of the activity, in measurement or the studies of the psychic aspects of work, increasingly many, show that the realization of the production more and more not only requires to make compromises with safety (what is never written) but also with its fear, its stress, its emotions etc This compromise cannot be studied " in chambre" , without going on the ground, near the operators in activity, which it is a question of carrying out a machine, a work station, or a data-processing interface: the standards and rules are never enough.

History

Ergonomics develops truly only as from the Second world war but the word was employed by Wojciech Jastrzebowski since 1857. One can however quote of many precursors to the approach ergonomic of work like the doctor Villermé ( the Physical status and moral of the workmen employed in manufactures , 1840), the physiologists Marey and Chauveau or, in a a little provocative way, the scientific management promoted by Taylor (the first to think work like object of studies " of intention" scientist. The first review of ergonomics, human Work , is created in 1933 per Henri Laugier and Jean-Maurice Lahy.

Following Maurice de Montmollin, the French-speaking people generally distinguish two large currents in ergonomics:

the ergonomics centered on the activity which insists on the comprehension of the situation of work as a whole, the analysis of the request and the framework of the intervention and the distinction between work prescribed and real work. This school is mainly present in the French-speaking countries, in Brazil and in another form in Scandinavia.
the ergonomics of the human factor, centered on the search for general results (on the postures, rates, environments of work…) and the definition of standards. It is dominant in the United States and Japan.

It is necessary to quote Jacques Christol who was the first ergonomicist expert living of his activity of council near the companies, starting from the beginning of the year 1970, and was the only president neither academic nor of an public agency of the company of French language (COIL) (of 1984 to 1987). It contributed to the installation of the methodology of intervention used today by the majority of the ergonomicists experts.

It would still be necessary to distinguish between the ergonomicists who speak about the Human factor and those which speak ABOUT the Human factors, and now Human factors and Organisational, for better marking collective and social dimension current problems on the reliability of the complex systems socio-techniques (sectors nuclear power, armament, chemistry, air traffic…).

Generally in France, the use of the term Facteur (S) Human (S) does not mean déaccord with the approach by the analysis of the activity, but only the desire to dissociate itself from a too confined ergonomics, in any case in the common representation, the physical aspects of the work study: " the height of the scheme of work and the color of the walls and the écrans"

Little by little, the visions approach, the ones discovering the advantages of the observation of reality, that nothing replaces, the others that of the standards, of the standards that nobody can dispute any more in certain fields, such as for example in the computing functions, or the calculation of the wearing of load (equation of the NIOSH) quite useful for a first approach of certain questions).

The beginning of XXIe century, with the emergence of the countries " low cost" and the delocalization of the industrial activities on which ergonomics was partly built (chemistry, iron and steel industry, for example) led the ergonomicists to be interested more closely in the other components of the economic life: it is indeed explosion of the techniques of remote data processing, the Internet, the ERP in the companies (information systems theoretically integrating all the needs for the company, business, stock, production control, of the formation, the pointing of times, accountancy…). This software, very important for the alignment of the enteprises on the current concurentielles conditions, modifies the organization of work deeply, with beyond same of what had achieved the policies of quality (ISO 9000, TQM…). The ergonomicists take part in the specifications of these ERP while bringing their knowledge of real work, to make the change easier, and more adapted to the situations of work than the operational ones meet concretely.

In addition, the expansion of the Internet sites, the services accessible by these means multiplies the needs for a thorough knowledge of the man in front of the screen, in order not to be likely to set up sites difficult to use, with the useless or difficult to reach functionalities for the handicapped people.

Efforts are currently made to control the profession on a voluntary basis around a title of “European Ergonomicist” protected by a registered trademark. This process is complicated by diversity of the practices and of knowledge of the ergonomicists according to the countries and the fields of application, like by the little of seniority of the profession, which makes that the applicants themselves, when they can have questions of ergonomics to solve, have sometimes evil to make the sorting between the offers of service existing on the market.

Practical of ergonomics

According to the definition of the ANACT it gathers knowledge on the operation of the man in activity in order to apply it to the design of the tasks, the machines, the tools, the buildings and the systems of production.

After being created by a collective of researchers having been confronted during the war with the difficulties of design of the Man-machine interfaces, a physiologist, a psychologist and engineer (Floyd, Murrel and Welford), ergonomics was collected a long time by autoproclamés specialists, whom they are ergonomicists companies or ergonomicists of design. The principles of ergonomics are the total sight of the work conditions, the pluri and it inter disciplinarity and the participation of all the actors (thus of the operator, i.e. of the paid one who occupies this work station) and the productivity of the Homme-Machine system, productivity without which there is no… work. The Physiology of work, the Psychology of work and engineering are at the origin of ergonomics, and were added there Sociologie, biomechanics and anthropometry.

Currently beyond course at the time of the studies of Engineer or Company doctor, there exist formations diplomantes of metrologist and ergonomicist, in particular that of CNAM. The formation includes/understands metrology (measurements of illumination to the lux-meter and the luminancemeter, of the noise level with various types of audiometers, biometric measurements, analyzes task and study of the station with motion study in position, frequency, force, load…). It includes/understands also courses of methodology of the intervention (in ergonomics like elsewhere, the good intentions are not enough to ensure a change), courses of methodology of the observation and analysis of work, as well as design of the work stations: it is to say that ergonomics is not the simple addition of knowledge on the operation of the man, but well their integration with the service of the operators to work, to ensure safety to them, good conditions of work, and means of being productive.

The formation can be also assured through the studies psychology (in universities like Toulouse 2, Paris V, Paris X, etc) which make it possible to have basic knowledge on the human being.

The major part of the formation is done by contribution of knowledge on the operation of the man and of the organizations, training of methods of analysis of work, and by case studies which facilitate the installation of methodology (analyzes request, collection of data, first assumptions, analyzes tasks and analyzes activity by observation and discussion with the operators, development of a model of operation of the operator, workshop…, then proposals for an installation (or of design), followed realization, starting, and finally evaluation and followed consequences of the change by analysis of the socio-economic indices and opinion of the operators). The intervention of the ergonomicist can be is at the stage of the design (of the object, the work station or the installation, the workshop, the process…) it is design ergonomics, that is to say in correction of a station following accident or pathology, or felt sorry for of holding of the station. It can also be a question of arranging a work station to adapt it to a handicap of the operator, or when the aims had by the company are not achieved (quality or insufficient productivity, complaints of the operators…) or when the company wishes to launch out in a reorganization, to set up a new computing system…

Stations of ergonomicists exist in large companies, sometimes in services of occupational medicine with the installation of inter disciplinarity, in the cabinets of consultants in ergonomics. The latter can be missionnés and financed by various organizations (Regional Case of Health insurance - CRAM, ANACT, AGEFIPH for the installation of stations of employees found handicapped), INRS Research institute for Safety: many voices, in particular in the trade-union organizations agree to say that it would be appropriate besides of réoganiser this unit, so that each of the four organizations do not do each one the same study.

External bonds

http://listes.cru.fr/sympa/info/ergoliste

List important discussion of the community of the ergonomicists

Société of Ergonomics of French language
Page Ergonomics and Health Occupational safety of the Gate of risk QHSE- Université Bordeaux 1 EPD HSE
Ergolab, site of ergonomics resources of the IHM

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Ergonomics

Definitions

History

Practical of ergonomics

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External bonds