ABSTRACT
In this chapter, occupational health and safety is approached from the viewpoints of both human factors and ergonomics and standardization, including management systems standards. The field of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is summarily characterized, and a historical perspective of its evolution is given, in relationship to Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE). Although several components of what makes up the field of OHS today preexisted as specialized fields before the foundation of the discipline of HFE (following World War II), and some of them were included in the genesis of HFE, OHS and HFE have developed as two distinct, although somewhat overlapping, areas of activity. Links and commonalities can be found today between the two. Environmental conditions (such as noise, climate, or lighting) is an example of an area that is dealt with within the discipline of HFE, and is also a central concern of OHS. Although inadequate postures and movements at work and work psychosocial factors impinge on OHS, HFE is equipped with knowledge and methods to perform the design of work and to deal with these work design factors. Regarding legislation, regulations, and standardization, OHS has gained from a head start in comparison to HFE (in the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970; at an international level, the ILO R164 recommendation of 1981; in the EU, the directive 89/391 on safety and health at work of 1989), which supports the inclusion of this discussion on OHS standards within the realm of HFE standards, given the intersecting interests of the two disciplines. Regarding economic considerations, some HFE interventions have been the object of cost-benefit analyses reported in the literature. In what concerns OHS, the literature has focused on the cost of occupational accidents, injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. Estimates of costs and benefits of complying to (or adopting) OHS standards are also available, in the form of literature dealing with the mandatory U.S. OSHA standards.
