I If you’re interested in pursuing a qualification in ergonomics and human factors, be prepared to delve into a diverse range of subjects and develop a comprehensive understanding of how they all relate to the ways people interact with products, tasks, environments, and systems. In this field, you’ll need to build skills across several knowledge areas, including the following:
Domains:
Anatomy and Physiology: Understanding the structure and function of the human body is essential in understanding how the body interacts with products, tasks, environments, and systems. This knowledge area involves studying the body systems, including musculoskeletal, nervous, and sensory systems.
Psychology: Ergonomics and human factors practitioners need to understand human behaviour and mental processes to design products, tasks, environments, and systems that are user-friendly and promote safety, health, and productivity. This knowledge area includes understanding human cognition, perception, attention, memory, and decision-making.
Biomechanics: This knowledge area involves studying the mechanics of movement and force transmission in the human body. It is important for designing products, tasks, environments, and systems that are safe, comfortable, and efficient.
Anthropometry: Ergonomics and human factors practitioners need to understand the variability in human body dimensions and shapes to design products, tasks, environments, and systems that fit the majority of the population. This knowledge area involves studying human body measurements and proportions.
Human Factors Engineering: This knowledge area focuses on the design and evaluation of products, tasks, environments, and systems to optimize their performance, safety, health, and usability. It includes methods and techniques for user research, task analysis, usability testing, and evaluation.
Environmental Science: Ergonomics and human factors practitioners need to understand the impact of environmental factors, such as noise, lighting, temperature, and air quality, on human performance, safety, and health. This knowledge area involves studying environmental factors and their effects on human physiology and behaviour.
Statistics and Research Methods: Ergonomics and human factors practitioners need to be able to design and conduct research studies to gather data and evaluate the effectiveness of products, tasks, environments, and systems. This knowledge area includes statistical analysis, experimental design, and data collection methods.
Occupational Health and Safety: Ergonomics and human factors practitioners need to understand the principles of occupational health and safety to design products, tasks, environments, and systems that minimize the risk of work-related injuries and illnesses. This knowledge area includes understanding workplace hazards, risk assessment, and safety regulations.
Ergonomics Standards and Guidelines: Ergonomics and human factors practitioners need to be familiar with the existing standards and guidelines for ergonomic design, such as ISO standards and NIOSH guidelines. This knowledge area involves understanding the principles and requirements of ergonomic standards and guidelines.
Overall, a qualification in ergonomics and human factors requires a multidisciplinary approach, combining knowledge from various fields to design products, tasks, environments, and systems that promote safety, health, and productivity.
We will dig deeper into each sub domain in our next blog… Stay tuned !!
