Conference on Emerging Trends in Mining and allied Industries (ETMAI – 2008) (On February 2 – 3, 2008) Organized by Department of Mining Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela.
Md. Asif Daiyan Senior Mining Engineer,Malanjkhand Copper Project , Hindustan Copper Limited
THE ROLE OF ERGONOMICS IN MAN, MACHINE AND ENVIRONMENT
Abstract
Throughout history man has used his brain to make-work easier and more effective, to make life better and more satisfying. He has been developing and applying new tools as well as new ways of human cooperation and social organization complementary to these new tools. A well-established applied science from the last 50 years devoted to maximizing human performance without causing injuries or detrimentally affecting performance, called ERGONOMICS. It will help to solve a bit of the whole problem and it is a benefit for companies not a cost. If optimum safety and system effectiveness are to be achieve in the design of future systems, the role of Ergonomics will become more and more significant as system become more and more complex and automated. This paper covers the need of ergonomic design equipment for the modern-day heavily mechanized and automated industries in aspect of safety norms.
INTRODUCTION
Ergonomics is a technology for designing machine to guard from the obvious hazards and optimizing system performance. It is, however, a scientific approach to solve problems of designing and constructing things, which people are expected to use in the job, so the user will be more efficient and less likely to make errors resulting in accidents. The Design of machine for safety in the job and in the environment is a major goal of ergonomics.
WHAT IS ERGONOMICS?
The word ergonomics is derived from two Greek words – Ergon and Nomes, which together mean “Laws of Work”. Ergonomics is the study of workers characteristics for the appropriate design of their tools and work environment. Ergonomics is about the fit between people, their work activities, equipment, work systems, and environment to ensure that workplaces are safe, comfortable, efficient, and that productivity is not compromised
ROLE OF ERGONOMICS
When dealing with Ergonomics, it should always be remembered that a task is usually be performed only by interacting with three factors– Man, Machine and environment, which together form one larger system, called Ergo-system.
In any man machine system, man performs three functions at a time– sensor, information processor and controller. As for example, the operator performs a certain task or numbers of task with his abilities and limitation by provided machine. Interaction between operator and the machine, in order to perform a specific task will normally take place within a certain environment. This environment can be anything from the physical environment such as noise, vibration, heat etc. to the psychological and organizational environment, such as work-team, pay and welfare, shift condition, discomfort or risk and the socio – psychological aspects of the particular mine or the type of industry concerned. All the above-mentioned factors will necessarily influence one another. Man interacts with the machine at these two points – display and controls. The purpose of Ergonomics is to minimize errors at these two points. View the image
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