Ergonomics: National Ergonomics Month by Leon Groom

Like Breast Cancer month October is also National Ergonomics Month. During this month, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society holds several events aimed at increasing the awareness of Ergonomic research and work-related health. The focus of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society is on teaching learning, networking, service and fun. They want to use National Ergonomics Month to find opportunities to raise awareness about Ergonomics and hopefully get more people involved with their own health and safety. The goal of this organization is not just to make sure that businesses are aware of their obligations to their employees and that those obligations are placed into some kind of required and centralized place, but also to try to improve the every day lives of human beings through research and education. Many of their members are students who conduct awareness-raising programs throughout the country. They work with seniors and children and everyone in between to raise awareness about different ways in which regular people can improve the comfort of their lives and their work.

There are two specific kinds of Ergonomic study, one physical and the other cognitive. Physical ergonomics is concerned with the physical reactions that the human body has when related to physical activity or work. Cognitive ergonomics is more like mental reactions to work or more specifically, to work overload.

The focus of the NEM this year is to start at the school level with school and community presentations. Next, they want to involve the media and garner lots of attention for this important subject. The Gala event that will accompany National Ergonomics Month in October will include workshops and presentations related to the Ergonomics. The workshops offer a hands-on approach into the use of design and construction to improve the physical relationship between human beings and the work that they complete.

The idea behind an increased awareness of Ergonomics and related issues is that human beings will be able to be much more productive, while they incur the minimum amount of stress or fatigue to their own system. If these kinds of educational programs were implemented throughout the world the effects would be astounding. William R Brough, president of Washington Ergonomics, didn’t believe that that defining effective ergonomics was an easy task. He believed that an effective ergonomics process creates optimum human performance that generates better production and quality while eliminating fatigue, pain, or injure.