Human body ergonomics

The psychological and physiological limitations and capabilities constitute the ergonomics or human factors. It is the most important part of the occupational safety and health program. This is to evaluate personnel capabilities and improve human safety, comfort, and productivity in the workplace. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) are the results of ergonomics and limitations of the human body to a sudden change or continuous working on a physical job, especially where most of the jobs are carried out manually. 

Marras, W. S. (1997), Biomechanics of the Human Body, in Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics, 2nd Ed., G. Salvendy, Ed., John Wiley Sons, New York. 

Roebuck, J. A. (1995), Anthropometric Methods Designing to Fit the Human Body, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Santa Monica, CA. 

Lee, S., Bro, R. (2008). Regional differences in world human body dimensions The multi-way analysis approach. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 9(4), 325-345. 

Safety of Machinery— Ergonomic design principles Safety of Machinery— Emergency stop equipment, functional aspects Safety of Machinery— Minimum gaps to avoid crushing of parts of the human body... 

Considering the physiological aspects of job design, ergonomics examines both how the human body fits into its workplace, and how it copes with its immediate environment, particularly in terms of heating, lighting, and noise characteristics. 

In human bodies, all movement is possible due to the application of load and stress to biological levers. The field of biomechanics, which teaches about joints, bones, and muscles, provides safety professionals with an understanding of how the musculoskeletal levers of the body are designed to work. This awareness can be applied to identify and eliminate unnatural movements resulting in ergonomic problems. Evaluation activities such as monitoring frequency and duration of... 

Anthropometries Statistical information about human body dimensions and product design applied to ergonomics. 

Physical Ergonomics Physiological, anatomical, and biomechanical characteristics of the human body related to physical activity. 

The human body is a marvellous and adaptable machine but it does have limitations. Different limbs have developed to fulfil particular functions which they do very effectively. Since ergonomics is the study of fitting the machine to the man it would seem sensible that priority of consideration should start with what a human body can do before deciding how the machine should fit it. 

---