ABSTRACT
Stress factors in work, social and work environments in workers’ lives may adversely affect their health, safety, physical performance, productivity and psycho-social adaptability, and thus hamper their goodwill and ambition for work. In an arrangement of proper working conditions, consideration of the needs of the person engaged in the work will provide a definition of conditions precedent to require minimum power for performing the work. Well-designed work methods, workplaces and work organizations which take into consideration the capabilities and limitations while increasing the performance of the operator will decrease fatigue and the errors made on the job. Comfort, physical health, welfare and performance in the living medium of people having different attributes can only be attained if the supplies and equipment they use are designed in harmony with the relevant organs and characteristics to the human body. The aim of ergonomics is to achieve an appropriate matching between the work environment and user/worker capabilities, so as to preserve the performance of the user/worker and of the system and safety of the user/worker. Technological development, whose main objective has been to increase all sorts of production along with decreasing the physical load share of working human beings, has also created health and safety problems caused by unavoidable man–machine interactions. The design of instrumental displays in man–machine systems forms an important part in ergonomically constructive activities. A working environment which meets the needs, expectations and wishes of the employees will increase both the employees’ satisfaction level and the organization’s productivity. To create such an environment is only possible when managers believe and accept the importance and the benefit of this idea. Ergonomics is related to the concept of matching machine to man and of planning and organizing work so that it suits the needs, abilities and limitations of the person doing it. Ergonomic measures aim at attaining optimal working conditions, making the most suitable use of a worker’s physical characters and physiological and psychological capabilities. Ergonomic factors such as lighting noise temperature, humidity, air movement, working postures and positioning of instruments and controls influence the health, safety and welfare of the worker.
