Miguel Montano ENC 1102 Lit Review Although safety centered design dates back to Ancient Greece, the

modern application of ergonomics into engineering has its roots in World War I, where aviation psychology was studied and new technology was developed to enhance a pilots ability. This example exemplifies what Human Factors Engineering and Ergonomics is all about; HFE & E is concerned with the fit between the user, equipment and their environments. It takes account of the user's capabilities and limitations in seeking to ensure that tasks, functions, information and the environment suit each user. Thus it has become an ever expanding field, where new terms and applications are being created all the time, now dealing with virtually any type of system, from design and production, to interpersonal interactions among workers, with efficiency and safety being at the core of all the applications. Although there is an ironic failure ubiquitous within the field and thats the fact that the actual implementation of said designs and proposals is relatively sporadic. Many companies continue to practice flawed methodologies and globally countless engineers continue to apply ergonomically unsound designs and principles (Falck, Rosenqvist 1). And a notable problem arises when trying to solve this gap between engineering design and business pragmatism, and thats the fact little to no research exists providing statistic representations of how often ergonomic measures are actually carried out. Thus a conclusion can only be drawn by creating inferences from ergonomic decision-making concepts, as well as by analyzing case-studies. Upon inspection several factors can be found that contribute to this recurring failure, such as the need for cost-effective proposals, the expensive and time

consuming nature of HFE research, the lack of ergonomic knowledge by individuals with decision-making abilities, and the minimal cross-functional cooperation between workers. To understand where failures in implementation could occur, an understanding of how Human Factors Engineering works must be developed. The very first step is to evaluate what the system failure is, whether its human to human, human to group, human to organizational, human to machine (Schlick, Luczak). After findings are analyzed an approach must be created tackling the various possible areas that could be improved, such as equipment design, task design, environmental design, the training of the individuals, or the selection of individuals ( SChlick, Luczak).

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Bhattacharya, Amit. Occupational Ergonomics: Theory and Applications, Second Edition Hoboken: CRC Press, 2012. UCF Libraries Catalog. Web, 22 Oct. 2012

Kroemer, K H. E, H J. Kroemer, and K E. Kroemer-Elbert. Engineering Physiology: Bases of Human Factors Engineering/ergonomics. Berlin: Springer, 2010. Web, 28 Oct. 2012

Neumann, W.P., Rheta, Rosen, and Katherine Turner. Setting The Scene for Ergonomics. (Cover Story.) Industrial Engineer: IE 44.3(2012): 28-33. Business Source Premier. Web, 6 Oct. 2012

Philippart, Monica F. Improving Business Performance Through the Integration of Human Factors Engineering into Organizations Using a Systems Engineering Approach. Orlando, Fla: University of Central Florida, 2008. Web, 28 Oct. 2012

Schlick, Christopher, and H.Luczak, Industrial Engineering And Ergonomics[Electronic Resource]: Visions, Concepts, Methods And Tools; Festchrift In Honor Of Professor

Holger Luczak/Christopher M. Schlick, Editor. p.p.: Dordrecht; New York; Springer, c2009., 2009. UCF Libraries Catalog. Web, 1 Oct. 2012

Valois Robert F., et al. Ergonomic Decision-Making: A Conceptual Framework for Experienced Practitioners From Backgrounds in Industrial Engineering and Physical Therapy. Applied Ergonomics37,(n.d.): 587-598. ScienceDirect. Web, 6 Oct. 2012