8.14.10.3 Ergonomics

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ergonomics

Ergonomics is a multi-disciplinary study of the relationship between the person and the environment.  Ergonomics includes information from engineering, biomechanics, environmental psychology, physiology, and other fields about how human beings are affected by their environment, especially in the workplace.  It is intended to enhance safety, productivity, and quality of life.  The principles included in the discussion of ergonomics focus on how the designer can influence the comfort and safety of the people for whom they design.

Ergonomic guidelines have been established by drawing upon information from a number of scientific disciplines.  In spite of the specialization within the individual fields, there are several common design objectives:

  • Design for flexibility - select furniture and systems that can be adjusted to the greatest number of individual needs, and easily reconfigured to meet the evolution of an organization's need.

  • Consider every design choice to be part of a total, interactive system - a chair must not only fit the individual, but also the requirements of the task, and it must work within the environment in which it will be used over time.

  • Provide the most "intuitive" design solution - design objects and spaces in a way that is natural or logical to the average person's experience.

  • Make a design as safe as possible - to prevent misuse or injury.  Based upon research, designers can anticipate certain behaviors from people and plan for them.

  • Design to minimize muscle fatigue - avoid workspace layouts that require people to sit in a twisted position, to reach or hold their hands above their head, or to perform frequent lifting, stooping, or squatting positions.

  • An awareness of ergonomics is important when choosing interior furniture. Some examples of ergonomic applications in interior furnishings include selecting chair arms that are replaceable or removable in the field, and are adjustable when planned for intensive use by computer operators.

Please review the following documents prior to ordering chairs and other furniture items:

  • Cornell Ergonomic Seating Evaluation Form.

  • The Heart of the Humancale Freedom Message.

 

  
 

Interior Design