In the past, most businesses have strived for high production at low cost. This strategy resulted in the highest profit for a company. When in reality to many businesses, this was only a mirage. This was because the "lower cost- of the business usually resulted in a "higher cost- for the employees. This lower cost for businesses may have meant lower quality workplace items, lower salaries, less benefits, etc. These lower costs created an upset workplace environment for the employees. This upset has help found a new branch of science called Ergonomics. "Ergonomics is a relatively new branch of science which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 1999, but relies on research carried out in many other older established scientific areas, such as engineering, physiology and psychology- (http://www.ergonomics.org.uk/ergonomics.htm). Once it became clear that businesses needed to take into account the human environmental factors that faced their employees it resulted in the discipline of ergonomics.
There exist many different things in the workplace that add to stress and injuries. They range from lifting heavy boxes to typing too much on the keyboard. However, in this paper, I will focus on the principals of ergonomics in the office and computer environment. Exactly, what is ergonomics? "Ergonomics, or Human Factors as it is known in North America, is a branch of science that aims to learn about human abilities and limitations and then apply that knowledge to improve people's interaction with products, systems and environments- (http://www.ergonomics.org.uk/ergonomics.htm). "The word, ergonomics, is derived from the greek words ergos meaning "work- and nomos meaning "laws-; therefore, we have the laws of work. Ergonomics can be further defined as the design of the workplace, equipment, machine, tool, product, environment, and system, taking into consideration human's physical, physiological, biomechanical, and psychological capabilities- (www.
