Ergonomics and Occupational Health
Fit work to the worker, reduce occupational risks, and support safe return to work.
General subject summary is free to everyone.
Ergonomics and Occupational Health
Subject Summary
The public overview below follows the supplied PhysioVeda Academics subject summary.
Ergonomics adapts work, tools, tasks and environments to human capabilities and limitations so that performance, comfort and safety can be improved while unnecessary physical and cognitive strain is reduced.
Occupational health applies prevention, hazard control, surveillance and rehabilitation principles to protect workers from physical, chemical, biological, mechanical and psychosocial risks.
A practical ergonomic approach links the person, task and environment: identify exposures, estimate risk, redesign the job or workstation, educate workers and reassess whether the intervention reduced the problem.
For physiotherapy practice, high-yield areas include posture and force assessment, manual handling, work-related musculoskeletal disorders, ergonomic screening tools, work conditioning, functional capacity evaluation and return-to-work planning.
Whole-subject high-yield numbers
Use these supplied values and key facts for quick whole-subject revision.
| RULA | Rapid Upper Limb Assessment; commonly scored 1-7, with higher scores indicating greater need for investigation or change. |
| REBA | Rapid Entire Body Assessment; commonly scored 1-15, with higher scores indicating greater musculoskeletal risk and more urgent action. |
| NIOSH lifting equation | Recommended Weight Limit = LC x HM x VM x DM x AM x FM x CM; Lifting Index = load weight / recommended weight limit. |
| NIOSH load constant | 23 kg (51 lb) under ideal reference conditions in the revised lifting equation. |
| Microbreak principle | Short, frequent movement or recovery breaks can interrupt sustained posture and repetitive loading. |
| Hierarchy of controls | Elimination/substitution and engineering controls are preferred before administrative controls and personal protective equipment where applicable. |
Core references
- Bridger RS. Introduction to Human Factors and Ergonomics. CRC Press.
- Pheasant S, Haslegrave CM. Bodyspace: Anthropometry, Ergonomics and the Design of Work. CRC Press.
- Kroemer KHE, Grandjean E. Fitting the Task to the Human: A Textbook of Occupational Ergonomics. CRC Press.
- Salvendy G, Karwowski W, eds. Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics. Wiley.
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Applications Manual for the Revised NIOSH Lifting Equation.
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