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Ergonomics course to aid industrial design

A Human Factors and Work Design product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Oct 1, 2004

Prof Rod Graves is running a four-day ergonomics foundation course from 1st to 4th November 2004 in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Prof Rod Graves is running a four-day ergonomics foundation course from 1st to 4th November 2004 in Aberdeen, Scotland.

The course is based on a series of modules on ergonomics aspects of engineering design provided for industrial sectors ranging from food processing to automotive component manufacture.

The experiences gained using material from industrial case studies from the courses have provided many engineers and designers with basic skills to help them develop practical solutions within their own industries.

The course covers the basic human sciences underpinning human capability including biomechanics and anthropometry; applied experimental psychology; and applied human work physiology.

Biomechanics is concerned with strength and force application, whereas anthropometry covers the range of human size issues encountered in design.

Applied experimental psychology gives insight into the underlying perceiving and thinking processes fundamental to our interaction with the world about us.

Applied human work physiology, besides providing knowledge on the way the human body works, helps identify factors to be considered when designing work and rest regimes.

In addition, the course provides an introduction to important ergonomic areas such as human factors and safety; musculoskeletal disorders and risk; manual handling operations; and workstation design principles.

Human factors and safety deals with the interaction of people and work systems, especially the influence that design of information and controls has on increasing the likelihood of human error.

Handling is an every day feature of many jobs and risk from musculoskeletal disorders is a major area of concern for the Health and Safety Executive.

Prof Graves helped develop the risk assessment tools published in the 2002 guidance on managing upper limb disorders.

A key feature of the course is the opportunity to carry out syndicate work to practice the knowledge gained in the various topic areas.

For example, during the exercises in workstation design principles, participants are provided with risk assessment tools, video material of industrial tasks and scale drawings of workstations and tools.

This enables systematic assessments of risk and a structured approach to design solutions.

Overall, the course is designed to be practical but based on the application of scientific knowledge.

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