Advances In Occupational Ergonomics And Safety

Ergonomics touches every man, woman and child each day of their lives whether they recognise it or not. Ergonomics (or lack of it) plays a more significant role in the lives of about two-thirds of the world s population over 10 years of age who work for one-third of their lives to make a living. There are 120 million occupational accidents and injuries and 200,000 fatalities each year according to WHO 95. Occupational accidents, injuries and fatalities are undesired events. The occupational activities are planned and designed, and executed with a purpose under supervision but accidents are not. Hence it stands to reason that better planning, design and execution will help to reduce these undesirable outcomes. One must also recognise that under global scheme of biological evolution, the human beings were not designed to endure a life long exposure to artificial activities repetitively. Thus occupational health problems are inevitable if we do not return to nature for our sustenance. As a society, we have chosen to live and work as we do. In fact, there is a far rapid evolution (mutation and speciation) of occupations than of any biological organism. This places us in a situation where better planning, design and execution of our occupational activities have become absolute necessity. However, since ergonomics is a modifier and not a causal factor, its significance does not become immediately apparent to us. Perhaps it is for this reason that even in developed world occupational health services are available to between 20% to 50% of the work force and less than 10% of the workforce in the developing countries. Occupational health services are remedial approaches. The rational wisdom of the human race should strive to get proactive control of undesirable outcomes through ergonomics. Unfortunately, it is sadly lacking even today. On an optimistic note one can observe that its presence and application is slowly increasing.

Papers presented at the XVth Annual Conference of the International Society for Occupational Ergonomics and Safety.

Topics Include: industrial ergonomics, risk, accidents and accident prevention, safety and surveillance, posture perception, cognitive ergonomics, telerobotics, military occupational ergonomics, and international ergonomics.

In the fifteen years since the publication of Occupational Ergonomics: Theory and Applications significant advances have been made in this field. These advances include understanding the impact of ageing and obesity on workplace, the role of ergonomics in promoting healthy workplaces and healthy life styles, the role of ergonomic science in th

Worldwide, the attention for health, innovation, and productivity is increasing. In all situations, humans interact with their environment, which is the concern of the field of ergonomics. The need for knowledge and its applications is large and this book contributes to knowledge development as well as its application. The content varies from the e

Each year public awareness of the importance of ergonomics for improving people's working conditions and home environment increases, as the application of ergonomics brings more and more tangible benefits to society at large. The Annual International Industrial Ergonomics and Safety Conference held in Copenhagen, Denmark in June 1993, sponsored by the International Foundation for Industrial Ergonomics and Safety Research brought together more than 200 ergonomic professionals from North America, Europe and Asia to present over 120 research papers, in a quest to share their knowledge of new developments in design for people and improving safety at work.; This volume is a reference on the variety of problems that industrial and office workers face today, and moreover, offers solutions in the drive towards the safe workplace.