ABSTRACT
Ergonomics has a relatively short history on the African continent, but there is a growing awareness of the need for ergonomics, and many international and local enthusiasts have been actively involved in establishing the discipline in North, West, Central, and Southern Africa. Probably the fi rst recognized practice of ergonomics in Southern Africa was conducted in the mines, with the internationally renowned work-physiology of Wyndham and Strydom in the 1960s investigating the effect of heat stress on miners working in some of the deepest mines in the world.
