Why use an ergonomist?
Which professional do you need?
Can Optimise ergonomists do health and safety consultancy?
Can health and safety personnel do ergonomics consultancy?
Can other health professionals do ergonomics consultancy?
The field of ergonomics (or human factors)
What is a Certified New Zealand Ergonomist?

Why use an ergonomist?

Ergonomists are people focussed. They are design professionals - they apply tools and knowledge to assess physical, mental and organisational issues so people can work safely and efficiently. Ergonomists optimise the fit between people and where they work and what they do. They know which trade-offs can be made, and how to prioritise critical design features. This may include looking at the design of products or how the overall job fits together - flow of activities, who does the tasks, and how long they work for, etc.

If you want optimal performance - choose Optimise!

Top

Which professional do you need?

The skills of health and safety personnel, health professionals, and ergonomists are often confused, and they do overlap. To help you determine who you may need, consider:

Ergonomists focus on people - how their activities, equipment, environment and the way they work is designed and organised impacts on their ability to do what they need to do. So... if you want to improve your productivity by making it easier for people to do the job, consult an ergonomist.

Health and safety practitioners are concerned with meeting legal compliance with various codes, standards, and laws to ensure that employees have a safe and healthy workplace. So... if you want to meet your legislative requirements for health and safety, consult with a health and safety practitioner.

Health professionals work with individuals with health concerns, often assisting them to manage conditions at work or as they return to work. So... if you want an injured or otherwise disabled worker to stay safely at work, or to return back to work, you need to consult a health professional.

Top

Can Optimise ergonomists do health and safety consultancy?

No - Optimise ergonomists are not health and safety consultants. They do, however, have an excellent understanding of many of the issues, and often work alongside health and safety professionals. Health and safety concerns often drive the demand for ergonomics services, but is not the only sphere in which ergonomists may work. See 'Which professional do you need', above.

Services commonly completed as part of health and safety actions include:

• work system evaluation of factors contributing to discomfort and pain, stress, or other health problems
• design of interventions to reduce risk of discomfort and pain
• task analysis of risky activities or actions for advice on safe work methods
• design of work environments, work stations, work processes, tools and equipment
• preparation of training materials and the provision of staff training
• up-skilling health and safety representatives and other management staff for enhanced in-house capability
• investigation of factors contributing to errors, re-work, or other incidents

Top

Can health and safety personnel do ergonomics consultancy?

Few health and safety practitioners have completed a full education in ergonomics, though some may have done papers or courses of relevance. Completing an ergonomics paper or attending a short course in workstation ergonomics does not make you an ergonomist (though it may give an understanding of the approach and methods used, or the skills to carry out some activities).

Best results may be achieved by an ergonomist complementing the skills of in-house health and safety practitioner. The ergonomist provides expert guidance, an objective and evidence-based evaluation of needs, and can team with your organisation's staff to provide interventions. See 'Which professional do you need', above.

Top

Can other health professionals do health and safety consultancy?

Some health professionals - such as occupational therapists, physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, occupational health nurses, and occupational health physicians - may have completed some education that is relevant to the practise of ergonomics. Health professionals are highly skilled in making recommendations pertinent to existing injury, health and rehabilitation issues for individual workers. They may however lack the skills for working with groups or populations of workers across the wider work system. If you want help with an individual worker you probably need a health professional. If you want to enhance the processes for all your workers, clients and product users, consulting with an ergonomist is recommended. See 'Which professional do you need', above.

Optimise ergonomists have backgrounds in the health sciences, so we understand the health perspective.

Top

The field of ergonomics (or human factors)

Ergonomics (also known as Human Factors, or Human Factors Engineering) specialises in the wide range of human capabilities, limitations and behaviours. Ergonomists work to optimise the interactions (getting the best fit) between people and their activities, equipment, environments and systems.



Anatomy, physiology, and psychology are some of the building blocks of ergonomics. Because ergonomics is concerned with all areas of human function ergonomists come from a range of backgrounds - often health sciences, psychology, engineering, or health and safety. The practise of ergonomics has overlaps with engineering, medicine, and industrial design. Ergonomists may practise in specific areas - such as cognitive ergonomics, product design, schools, traffic, agriculture, rail, vehicle, computer usability etc. All ergonomists focus on system function, the match between humans and technology, and design that is user-centric.

Many people have an understanding of ergonomics as 'about computers, desks and chairs'. Whilst this is not incorrect, it is limited in scope. The huge field of issues around computer-human interaction and usability are a part of ergonomics, and much work around the design of computers, desks and chairs is done by ergonomists.

The 'systems' focus of ergonomists includes the:

• broader environment - social/ political/ family,
• structure of the job or organisation,
• immediate work environment (such as lighting, air quality, temperature, humidity),
• design of buildings, plant, and equipment,
• factors surrounding the physical, cognitive and emotional workload of people involved.

Ergonomics views the human 'system user' as central. The needs of humans are determined and accounted for, and the system designed to fit the user. This is in contrast to situations where users must work in awkward or less effective ways because of the poor design of things or processes. Good user-centred design results in systems that are comfortable to use, safe and effective.

Top

What is a Certified New Zealand Ergonomist?

Certified New Zealand Ergonomists (CNZErg) have met the requirements of the Board for Certification of New Zealand Ergonomists. This includes having a relevant university-level qualification, completion of post-graduate education in ergonomics, a year of supervised training, two years of practise in the field of ergonomics, and the meeting of a number of practice criteria (re-assessed three yearly).

Certified New Zealand Ergonomists must also abide a Code of Conduct, which was adopted from the International Ergonomics Association . An Associate New Zealand Ergonomist has completed the education and supervised training components required for full certification as above. The list of Certified and Associate New Zealand Ergonomists is at http://www.ergonomics.org.nz/Ergonomists.aspx.

Top