Process improvement initiatives are receiving renewed attention by large corporations as they attempt to reduce manufacturing costs and stay competitive in the global marketplace. These initiatives include 5S, Six Sigma, and Lean. These programs often take up a large amount of available time and budget resources. More often than not, existing ergonomics processes are considered separate initiat...

Recently, ergonomics has become a popular term. The term has been used with most professions, but increasingly in the dental profession. When you hear ergonomics, many meanings may come to mind. According to Pollack (1989), ergonomics is a discipline that studies workers and their relationship to their occupational environment. This could include many different concepts such as how we position ...

The effectiveness of ergonomics application is achieved in the course of this research by reviewing ergonomics literature, Internet searches and case studies of a number of work related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD's) and other ergonomic related workplace incidence rate. The results of ergonomic intervention control measures such as engineering controls, administrative controls and personnel...

This paper highlights experiences from ergonomics projects, applying an interactive research approach. The aim of this paper is to summarise experiences from seven interactive ergonomics projects with the aim to improve ergonomics and organizational performance jointly. Results from these seven projects were analysed with a model for assessing sustainable change, including the factors active ow...

OBJECTIVE This article places the 50th anniversary edition of the Human Factors journal in a historical context. BACKGROUND It is appropriate to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of Human Factors and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, but in so doing, we celebrate only the recent history of ergonomics. METHOD By digging into the history of ergonomics, we can better under...

In this paper ergonomics is defined as a discipline in its own right, as the theoretical and fundamental understanding of human behaviour and performance in purposeful interacting socio-technical systems, and the application of that understanding to design of interactions in the context of real settings. This definition is justified in the financial, technicat, legal, organisational, social, po...

This article presents the description and discussion of a pilot project in an ergonomic action developed in a public health institution. This project involves the implantation of an Ergonomics Program (PROERGO) in a department of this institution, guided by a methodology structured on six stages, referenced in the literature by ergonomics authors. The methodology includes the training of worker...

This paper examines the process of implementation of work-place ergonomics within thirteen plants of the largest division of an automobile manufacturing firm. The process began as plants reacted with varying degrees of conformance to institutional pressures to utilize ergonomics in job design. While all thirteen plants to some degree “adopted” an ergonomics program, varied conformity reactions ...

background/objective: musculoskeletal disorders (msds) are one of the most common causes of occupational injuries. this study was conducted with the objectives of determination of prevalence rate of msds and ergonomics assessment of the risk of msds among workers of a petrochemical company. methods: in this study, 261randomly selected workers in a petrochemical company with at least one year of...

The premise for this project is to implement an ergonomics program for the welding department of a car assembly company, considering that this area represents the highest occupational risk in relation to musculoskeletal injuries. The project also allows the demonstration of the different implementation processes of an ergonomics program; it also permits the determination of individual risks fac...