Engineering Psychology, Ergonomics, & Human Factors

Engineering Psychology, Ergonomics, & Human Factors

Although the comparability of these terms and many others have been a topic of debate, the differences of these fields can be seen in the applications of the respective fields.

Engineering psychology is concerned with the adaptation of the equipment and environment to people, based upon their psychological capacities and limitations with the objective of improving overall system performance, involving human and machine element^.Engineering psychologists strive to match equipment requirements with the capabilities of human operators by changing the design of the equipment.^[3] An example of this matching was the redesign of the mailbags used by letter carriers. Engineering psychologists discovered that mailbag with a waist-support strap, and a double bag that requires the use of both shoulders, reduces muscle fatigue.^[3] Another example involves the cumulative trauma disorders grocery checkout workers suffered as the result of repetitive wrist movements using electronic scanners. Engineering psychologists found that the optimal checkout station design would allow for workers to easily use either hand to distribute the workload between both wrists.^[3]

The field of ergonomics is based on scientific studies of ordinary people in work situations and is applied to the design of processes and machines, to the layout of work places, to methods of work, and to the control of the physical environment, in order to achieve greater efficiency of both men and machines^[4] An example of an ergonomics study is the evaluation of the effects of screwdriver handle shape, surface material and workpiece orientation on torque performance, finger force distribution and muscle activity in a maximum screwdriving torque task.^[5] Another example of an ergonomics study is the effects of shoe traction and obstacle height on friction.^[6] Similarly, many topics in ergonomics deal with the actual science of matching man to equipment and encompasses narrower fields such as Engineering Psychology.

At one point in time, the term human factors was used in place of ergonomics in Europe.^[7] Human factors involve interdisciplinary scientific research and studies to seek to realize greater recognition and understanding of the worker's characteristics, needs, abilities, and limitations when the procedures and products of technology are being designed.^[4] This field utilizes knowledge from several fields such as mechanical engineering, psychology, and industrial engineering^[4] to design instruments.

Although the work in the respective fields differ, there are some similarties between these. These fields share the same objectives which are to optimize the effectiveness and efficiency with which human activities are conducted as well as to improve the general quality of life through increased safety, reduced fatigue and stress, increased comfort, and satisfaction.