ABSTRACT
Ergonomics as a discipline has a long and distinguished history. Its origins are wellknown, coming from a recognised need, initially in a military context, to address the apparent limitations in system performance represented by human capabilities – how to design systems to mitigate or be tolerant of those limitations. Over time, this focus evolved into the discipline in its present form, focusing not only on the person as part of a complex system, but also on all aspects of our interactions with the work and leisure environment, considering both system performance and also health and wellbeing, and focusing on the positive contributions as well as human limitations.
As the discipline has evolved, so has its focus. In addition to continued attention to the performance of the individual, whether in respect of physical capabilities, environmental stressors, or cognitive demands, there has been increasing attention to system performance and organisational capabilities, and a reinforcement of the position that shortfalls in performance are rarely if ever due solely to a failure by an individual.
