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Ergonomics The human factor A practical approach to work systems design
SAA HB591994
Handbook
Ergonomics The human factor A practical approach to work systems design
First publi shed as part of SAA MH21975. Revised and redesignated in part as SAA HB591994.
PUBLISHED BY STANDARDS AUSTRALIA (STANDARDS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA) 1 THE CRESCENT, HOMEBUSH, NSW 2140
ISBN 0 7262 9193 5
PREFACE This Handbook has been prepared as a basic guide to the subject of ergonomics. It is not intended for use as a definitive reference source, since a number of excellent texts on the subject have already been published. However, for those who do not need to acquire a more comprehensive treatment, this handbook will prove useful. Ergonomics is a design philosophy which studies the three-way interactions between people, the equipment they use at their workplaces, and the environment within which the people, and equipment are placed. Its object is to design both the workplace and the environment in such a way that the most efficient use is made of human capabilities, without exceeding human capacities.
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To fully understand the limitations of the human body, ergonomists need to have a working knowledge of anatomy, the ability to perceive the forces at work on the body, and a knowledge of the psychological, as well as the physiological, needs of the individual within a work system. The practitioners of ergonomics come from a wide variety of backgrounds the sciences, engineering, medicine, and psychology. The subject forms the basis (or at least a part) of an increasing number of courses available within a number of colleges and universities across Australia, and indeed the world. Appendix A lists the documents referred to in this Handbook together with related documents for further reading.
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CONTENTS Page FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SECTION 1 HUMAN PHYSICAL CAPABILITIES ANTHROPOMETRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BIOMECHANICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Skeletal system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Muscular system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Muscle energy sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Static muscle fatigue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dynamic muscle fatigue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . REACH ENVELOPES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Static reach envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dynamic reach envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clearances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
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6 13 15 15 17 17 17 18 18 18 19 20 20
SECTION 2 PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTORS DISPLAYS AND CONTROLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Design of displays and controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DISPLAYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analogue displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scale divisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scale design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Numeral height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pointer position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Digital displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Colour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Size of display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Advantages of digital displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Disadvantages of digital displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OTHER FORMS OF DISPLAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CONTROLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Continuous controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Discrete controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Toggle switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rocker switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rotary switches and knobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Push-buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Illuminated push-buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Markings on push-buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Indicator lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
22 22 23 23 24 25 26 26 27 27 27 27 27 28 29 29 29 29 29 30 32 33 33 33 35
Page CONTROL IDENTIFICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Colour coding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shape coding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Size coding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Labelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . STEREOTYPES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PANEL DESIGN AND CONTROL IDENTIFICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . THE EYE AND VISION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anatomy of the eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Visual field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Accommodation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Glare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Relative glare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Absolute glare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adaptive glare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Humidity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LIGHTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . THE EAR, HEARING AND NOISE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anatomy of the ear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Daily noise dose (DND) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Effects on performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VIBRATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Whole-body vibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Part-body vibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vibration reduction techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . THERMAL ENVIRONMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SECTION 3 WORK ORGANISATIONAL FACTORS INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RESISTANCE TO CHANGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CONSULTATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MULTISKILLING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PACED SYSTEMS OF WORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TIME MAXIMIZATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OPERATOR AUTONOMY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SYSTEMS APPROACH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MANAGEMENT STYLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 36 36 37 37 37 38 39 40 41 41 41 42 42 42 42 42 44 44 45 47 48 49 50 50 51 51
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55 55 55 56 56 56 57 57 58
SECTION 4 APPLIED ERGONOMIC EXAMPLES WORKPLACE DESIGNOFFICE ENVIRONMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 APPENDIX A LIST OF REFERENCED AND RELATED DOCUMENTS . . . . . . . 61
FOREWORD Ergonomics is a science which developed from the need to understand the physiological, psychological and social needs of operators during the process of designing work environments. These requirements must be understood by the designer while developing the brief for the product or facility under consideration, since failure to take these human factors into consideration during the design phase can create unforeseen errors when the product or system is used. Historically, engineers, architects and designers have tended to assess the suitability of their designs against their own experiences and expectations, only to find that once the design is implemented, many users employ different criteria for assessment and a variety of unforeseen problems with the product have arisen. In the majority of cases, these oversights or errors will cause annoyance to the operator. However, in complex systems, the results may be disastrous. The word ergonomics, first used in 1949, is derived from two Greek words, ergon meaning work, and nomos meaning natural laws. Thus, ergonomics means the natural laws relating to work. Ergonomics can be seen by some as being as much an art as it is a science due to the many subtle differences which individuals bring to their working environment. Concentration on the physical capabilities and needs of the population tends to oversimplify these needs as being an extension of the engineering model to product design. The various shapes and sizes of the population (anthropometry) together with the strength and power of the human musculoskeletal system (biomechanics) provide an engineering basis for assessing design suitability. The cognitive or information processing capabilities of people influences their decisionmaking processes as well as their abilities to understand and interpret information provided to them. Related to this information processing capability, ergonomics provides data and guidance on the capabilities of human visual and auditory systems. The design and development of computer software has been a growth area for ergonomics during the 1980s in recognition of the significant influence that computer instructions and commands have on the abilities of users to learn and operate the multitude of computer systems now available. The assessment of computer software, or information technology, is one of the main areas of current ergonomic research. Other areas of research include the evaluation of the bodys sensitivity to variations in the thermal environment as well as the effects of either localised or whole-body vibration. Ergonomics provides a recognition of the context where the users of the work environment are likely to be influenced by the overall work system and organisation over their tasks. Most tasks performed by users are within an environment consisting of a social interaction with work peers, coupled with a management structure to provide guidance on the work practices and work organisation within which constraints their tasks are performed. The influence of the performance requirements, involving both the quantity and quality of output expected, also influences the capabilities of the user to meet the system demands. The macro-ergonomic study involving work organisation is a major element in understanding human performance capabilities within their working environment. Within a group of people involved in performing work, individual differences, including personality type, ability to cope with stress, fatigue and motivation, will be present and will determine the ability of each individual to maintain consistent output to meet the set performance requirements. The ability of supervisors and managers to account for these needs will generally have as great an impact on the efficiency of their system as will the physical capabilities of the staff. The challenge in ergonomics in the 1990s is to provide a balanced input in a holistic concept of the needs of people within their work environments. To optimise the efficiency of the human element within a man-machine system, which includes the reduction of injury risks, remains the current primary focus of ergonomics in Australia.
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HB 59-1994, Ergonomics - The human factor - A practical approach to work systems design
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