Occupational health and safety ergonomics - Essay Example

Occupational health and safety ergonomics Ever since mankind has started working in an industrial environment, it has felt the need for such a discipline that provides guidelines for effective performance that is based on productivity and safe work. Hence efforts were made to establish a complete discipline in form of ergonomics. Ergonomics is the field that entails safe and best practices in the working environment. It enables creating a working relationship amongst the people involved in the working sphere and the working sphere itself.

Though the name “ergonomics” was assigned to the safe practices later on, the history of safe working can be traced back to the ancient times when the need was felt for creating the tools in a manner that provided ease of use and comfort while operating them. In one of the ancient records, Bernardino Ramazinni, who was associated with the field of medicine, brought up working class and the problems faced by them in their surroundings (McCauley & Bush, 2011). At that time, however, the word “ergonomics” was not introduced.

The official usage of this word can be stretched back to mid 19th century; it was a contribution by Wojciech Jastrzebowski and Frederick Taylor, who not only introduced it but also implemented its principles (Schlick, 2009).In modern times, the routes of ergonomics can be traced back to the mid 20th century when K.F Murrell introduced this word for the first time. Each of the two world wars the 20th century saw can be linked to the use of ergonomics in the field of machinery and war crafts. After the Second World War, the pace of improvement and nourishment in the incumbent field took pace, and new techniques were introduced for comforting the fields in any way possible.

Since then, the discipline of ergonomics has never looked back; in modern times, all major organizations ensure that their employees work under the umbrella of ergonomics. The implementation of ergonomics has yielded many dividends.Its application is not limited to one particular field; rather, ergonomics is implemented in nearly every organization and every industry. It enables improving the working methods and further enables satisfaction of the employees, which is directly related to the customer response and company productivity.

OSHAOSHA is an acronym for Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and it is a federal agency which is specialized in dealing with safe practices in regard to physical health and the dangers threatening it. It provides a set of guidelines, necessary dos and don’ts of practices in the industry environments. The working purpose of OSHA is crafted in such a way that it enables covering all the necessary aspects of the organizational infrastructure, which not just includes the interrelationship between the personnel but also the identification of possible weak links in the working place and the remedial actions that might be necessary(Vance, 1999).

It further provides roadmap highlighting the dangerous aspects of the ambiance. This all and various other essential basic instructions are provided in form of trainings and awareness programs.ReferencesMcCauley, D., & Bush, P. M. (2011). Ergonomics: Foundational Principles, Applications and Technologies. CRC Press.Schlick, C. M. (2009). Industrial Engineering and Ergonomics: Visions, Concepts, Methods and Tools: Festschrift in Honor of Professor Holger Luczak. Springer.Vance, R. A. (1999). OSHA’s Regulatory Role in Ergonomic Safety.

Iowa: National Society of Professional Engineers.