What does "ergonomics" mean?

The term "ergonomics" was accepted in Great Britain in 1949, when a group of English scientists founded an Ergonomics Research Society. Ergonomics studies movement of a human being in the process of production, his energy consumption, productivity and intensity in precise activities.

Many disciplines - from anatomy to psychology - contributed to ergonomics. The main task of ergonomics is to provide a person with such working conditions that allow him to keep healthy, increase the work efficiency, decrease fatiguability and stay in good mood all working day long.

Nowadays there are 2 basic approaches to understanding of ergonomics:

• human adaptation to work
• work adaptation to a person

If in the first case it is efficiency that makes the corner-stone, then in the second case convenience of things will play a decisive role (this approach is connected with Usability Engineering approach).

Complex approach, typical of ergonomics, enables to obtain a comprehensive idea of working process and thus gives great chances of its advancement. This very facet of ergonomic research is of special importance for scientific organization of labour, when detailed scientific analysis of working processes and their conditions is followed by practical introduction of working processes, while practical measures themselves are based on contemporary science achievements.