Ergonomics

We explain what ergonomics is and what is its relationship with anthropometry. In addition, we offer you basic ergonomic advice.

Ergonomics is an applied science, close to design and engineering.

What is ergonomics?

Ergonomics is the discipline that studies the relationship between Body human and environments worked, with the purpose of obtaining tools and environments adapted in the best possible way to the human body. This is done with the purpose of building healthier work environments and productive, that respond naturally to the anatomical, psychological and physiological proportions of the workers.

It is a science applied, close to design Yet the engineering, which deals with those work environments in which the human body interacts with a machine for prolonged periods, which has a significant impact on body posture, mental stability and Health usually. Its name comes from the Greek words ergonomic ("work and nomos (“norm” or “law”).

The origins of ergonomics go back to the Antiquity classic. thinkers and philosophers of the Ancient Greece, such as Hippocrates (c. 460-370 BC), already warned about the need to adapt work tools to the human body, and many of the work tools of Ancient Egypt show the intention of being more comfortable for the hand of the worker.

However, the term "ergonomics" did not exist until the middle of the 19th century, and its massive application as a work discipline began at the beginning of the 20th century, as an inheritance of Taylorist thought, that is, of the methods proposed by the American Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856 -1915), one of the great promoters of the scientific organization of work.

From the Second World War (1939-1945), ergonomics gained increasing prominence as a tool to improve work. Above all, when it was shown that the adaptation of work spaces to the human body, as well as to the human mind and its instinctive responses, generated higher rates of effectiveness and lower rates of accidents and losses. A trend that was verifiable, for example, both in everyday work and in the design of aircraft cabins.

Environments, tools and designs that respond to the principles of ergonomics are known as ergonomic.

Objectives and importance of ergonomics

The objective The fundamental of ergonomics is to design friendlier environments for the anatomy and the mentality of Humans. That is to say, spaces and tools that respond in a more natural and less tiring way to our way of being, and that therefore do not require an additional effort to that involved in the work itself. So ergonomics is not just of importance to workers, but also for employers.

Thus, for example, a worker in a factory who has the right tools and the right work environment, not only will have to make less effort to do his job, which translates into less wear and less health consequences, but also will also be more productive, more proactive and will have a greater margin of commitment with his work.

In contrast, a worker who works in a situation of discomfort, tormented, with tools that cause bodily harm, possibly performs at a minimum and is in a continuous search for better job offers.

Basic ergonomic tips

People who work at a desk should take a healthy posture and take breaks.

Some basic principles of ergonomics in the work environment are as follows:

  • It has been found that the people who spend between 8 and 11 hours a day sitting at their jobs, with few or no interruptions, have higher blood pressure, higher propensity for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, and in general increase their mortality by 15% every 3 years. To do this, ergonomics recommends frequent breaks of 3 minutes every 30-45 continuous minutes of work, during which 20-second bouts of light resistance exercises, such as half squats, knee raises and gluteal contractions, will be performed.
  • People who work in front of a computer they should have non-reflective screens, with an adequate brightness for their environment (not backlit) and the monitor should be at eye level, not continuously tilted, placed about 50 to 60 cm away.
  • Similarly, people who work with keyboards on a daily basis should keep their wrists in a straight line and their elbows open at an angle of between 80° and 100°.
  • People who sit for long hours during their workday should have their feet firmly on the floor, or on a support, if necessary, with their hips and knees flexed at a 90° angle and firm support in the lumbar region of the spine (for example, a cushion) so that the back rests entirely on the chair.
  • People who work on their feet for long periods of time should have a high bench to sit on and rest their legs on, and should be in frequent movement, not static. If possible, they should have compression stockings to protect the circulation of the legs.
  • People who work lifting weights with their hands must have a harness or a belt around their torso that keeps their back straight. They should lift the weights by bending their knees and not rounding their backs.
  • Workers operating in high-noise environments should be provided with isolating headphones and staggered breaks to avoid overexposure to noise.

cognitive ergonomics

Cognitive or cognitive ergonomics is the branch of ergonomics that specializes in mental processes linked to work, that is, the way in which the environment and work tools operate together with the memory, perception Y reasoning of the human being, in order to optimize the wellness of people and the performance of production systems.

To achieve this purpose, cognitive ergonomics not only analyzes human-machine and human-computer interaction, but also designs training programs. training, questions the mental workload and analyzes the environmental variables that affect the emotional and psychological well-being of workers.

In a world of increasing automation and mechanization, in which the role of workers tends more and more to mental tasks, cognitive ergonomics emerges as a fundamental branch of the analysis of the work environment.

Ergonomics and anthropometry

Ergonomics needs anthropometry to know how to adapt to the human body.

The anthropometry It is the discipline that deals with to size the human body, that is, to record its proportions and establish certain normality criteria that may be useful when designing tools and spaces.

Therefore, his techniques and approaches are fundamental to ergonomics, since it is impossible to find an ideal work environment for the human being without first knowing how the human body is proportioned and the effects that a sustained posture during daily hours you can have on your constitution. The techniques and tools that deal with measuring the human body, or that respond by design to these proportions, are known as anthropometric.

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