Ergonomy - An approach at the service of prevention

The ergonomic approach is intended to be an a priori action, to be implemented as far upstream as possible of any equipment design or work situation layout project. To this end, it is based on a preliminary analysis of the work to be performed, with the aim of taking future activity more fully into account in design decisions and, consequently, in the prevention of accidents and occupational illnesses. Notions of comfort and well-being in the workplace, or relating to work organization, are not ignored. They are dealt with by establishing useful cross-references with the other determinants of prevention.

The need to integrate prevention into the design of workplaces, equipment and work situations at a very early stage stems from the fact that some decisions are virtually irreversible. The method proposed by ergonomics and the knowledge it helps to produce about real work, with the participation of the users concerned, thus arbitrates the dialogue established between the wishes of the requesting party (project owner, company manager, designer, etc.) and the technical or organizational feasibility of integrating, on an ad hoc basis, data that were not formulated at the outset. What we're looking for is to question and integrate the reality of use in order to improve the quality of life for users, while enhancing the company's overall performance.

In addition to its contributions to industrial reliability and industrial sociology, the ergonomic approach is increasingly being proposed as a teaching subject in engineering schools. Today, it needs to be understood as a basic engineering technique.