Week+5

Week 5 -

Ergonomics:

Ergonomics is the field of designing work-related products to optimize wellbeing and performance of an individual. It seeks to find the problematic areas of doing certain jobs, and attempts to create comfortable solutions for a person. One may not realize the importance of such a field until they personally experience ergonomically incorrect situations. For example, having to strain your neck in order to read a computer monitor is quite an uncomfortable task for someone who has hours of work to do. This person would really appreciate an ergonomically correct design of a computer monitor. A comfortable product is not only beneficial to the user, but to the company who expects the user to do work. Ergonomically correct designs can maximize efficiency and decrease frustration one may experience in an uncomfortable work environment.

There are several issues that ergonomics attempts to correct. These issues include: comfort and simplicity, incorrect height and depth, task lighting, freedom of movement, prolonged laptop use, and usable desk space. These are only a few examples of problems in a workplace. An individual will notice how annoying and uncomfortable these issues can be. When one has an appropriate chair to sit on, proper lighting, and plenty of desk space, it can make a world of a difference on not only a worker’s mood, but on their performance as well.

Ergonomics is all about the interaction and response between a work environment and its user. A comfortable work environment will provide an efficient worker, whereas an uncomfortable work environment provides an inefficient worker. Little things like a correctly designed chair that uses a minimalist approach to designing yet satisfies all needs of a user, or an adjustable monitor screen, or a laptop holder on your desk can create an efficient workspace for a user. Not only will the person be comfortable doing it, they will want to complete the assigned tasks quickly and with ease. Thus, it is evident that the importance of ergonomics is huge, and designing an ergonomically correct environment will be a safe and beneficial solution to decreasing workplace productivity.

Gilbreth’s study on motion analysis focuses on analyzing the work done in an organization and eliminating the unnecessary processes and tasks conducted. This would thereby save a great amount of time when conducting a task. Putting the work under scrutiny would also find the best way to complete the task. This allows for the employee to have less stress, and better work ethics. His study on motion analysis creates a reduction in the amount of motion needed to carry out a job, thus saving his or her energy.

Frank Therblig, also known as Frank Gilberth, is