HUMAN-FACTORS ENGINEERING

also called ergonomics, human engineering, and engineering psychology science dealing with the application of information on physical and psychological characteristics to the design of devices and systems for human use. Its data and principles apply to activities of the home, the workplace, and recreation. Human-factors engineering as an interdisciplinary profession is concerned with human performance, behaviour, and training in man-machine systems; the design and development of man-machine systems; and systems-related biological or medical research. Man is regarded as an element in a system, represented by a man-machine model. The most basic model, the man-machine unit, consists of an individual operator working with a single machine or device (for example, using a telephone, driving a car, or operating a computer terminal). The operator processes information provided by the machine and takes the appropriate action. Human-factors engineering deals in large part with improving the practicality, efficiency, and safety of the man-machine model through careful selection and design of machine displays and controls, attention to the layout and design of workplaces and to details of the work environment, and design for maintainability. The human-factors engineer makes use of scientific method to design effective man-machine systems and then uses trial and error to test a system's comfort and efficacy and to solve its problems and weaknesses. The design of a space suit for astronauts, for example, requires rigorous attention to details of facility, flexibility, protection, and physical comfort and through trial and error can be modified to its simplest and most acceptable form. also called ergonomics, or human engineering, science dealing with the application of information on physical and psychological characteristics to the design of devices and systems for human use. The term human-factors engineering is used to designate equally a body of knowledge, a process, and a profession. As a body of knowledge, human-factors engineering is a collection of data and principles about human characteristics, capabilities, and limitations in relation to machines, jobs, and environments. As a process, it refers to the design of machines, machine systems, work methods, and environments to take into account the safety, comfort, and productiveness of human users and operators. As a profession, human-factors engineering includes a range of scientists and engineers from several disciplines that are concerned with individuals and small groups at work. The terms human-factors engineering and human engineering are used interchangeably on the North American continent. In Europe, Japan, and most of the rest of the world the prevalent term is ergonomics, a word made up of the Greek words, ergon, meaning work, and nomos, meaning law. Despite minor differences in emphasis, the terms human-factors engineering and ergonomics may be considered synonymous. Human factors and human engineering were used in the 1920s and '30s to refer to problems of human relations in industry, an older connotation that has gradually dropped out of use. Some small specialized groups prefer such labels as bioastronautics, biodynamics, bioengineering, and manned-systems technology; these represent special emphases whose differences are much smaller than the similarities in their aims and goals. The data and principles of human-factors engineering are concerned with human performance, behaviour, and training in man-machine systems; the design and development of man-machine systems; and systems-related biological or medical research. Because of its broad scope, human-factors engineering draws upon parts of such social or physiological sciences as anatomy, anthropometry, applied physiology, environmental medicine, psychology, sociology, and toxicology, as well as parts of engineering, industrial design, and operations research. Additional reading Alphonse Chapanis, Man-Machine Engineering (1965), a small but authoritative survey of the field; Kenyon B. De Greene (ed.), Systems Psychology (1970), a discussion emphasizing those aspects of human factors that relate particularly to modern systems, both technological and social; Ernest J. McCormick and Mark S. Sanders, Human Factors in Engineering and Design, 5th ed. (1982), a large textbook covering all aspects of human-factors engineeringthe best of its kind; Clifford T. Morgan et al. (eds.), Human Engineering Guide to Equipment Design (1963), a highly technical designer's guide; Wesley E. Woodson and Donald W. Conover, Human Engineering Guide for Equipment Designers, 2nd ed. (1964), a less technical guide. Specific problems are discussed in David Stern ,Managing Human Resources: The Art of Full Employment (1982); Christopher Freeman, John Clark, and Luc Soete, Unemployment and Technical Innovation: A Study of Long Waves and Economic Development (1982); and Theodore W. Schultz, Investing in People: The Economics of Population Quality (1981).