ABSTRACT
Our contention with such figures is that the likely dollar benefits do not attempt to take the accuracy of the ergonomics methods into account. The application of ergonomics methods (if inaccurate) could fail to predict true problems with device design or, worse still, identify problems that do not exist. The extent to which methods do this can be calculated using Signal Detection Theory, which determines both the hit rate (the rate at which the method generates correct data, expressed as a ratio of hits to misses) and the false alarm rate (the rate at which the method generates incorrect data, expressed as a ratio of false alarms to correct rejections). Combining these two ratios will give an overall sensitivity value for the method. We argue that the degree to which the financial benefits will be realized will depend upon the accuracy of the methods used.
