Work System Design Issues
This chapter presents the concept of the work system in human factors and ergonomics (HF&E) and includes subchapters to inform about
The Concept of Work System Design
In HF&E, the work system comprises workers and work equipment acting together to perform the system function in the workspace, in the work environment, under the conditions imposed by the work tasks.
The Criteria of Work System Design
Design in HF&E strives to facilitate
- Feasibility of work
- Freedom from harm
- Freedom from physical and mental impairment
- Development of learning, health and personality.
The Strategies of Work System Design
HF&E design strategies are related to humans interacting within work systems (i.e. design to fit the whole working population or design for specific groups of users), to the interaction process (i.e. design for the work system task or design for specific requirements) and to the technical and environmental components (i.e. design of new work system or corrections of a work system).