Need for ergonomics research in Islamic countries

Abstract

Improvement of living and working conditions of the people is one of the major concerns of any states. Ergonomics, difined as "the scientific study of the relationship between man and his working environment," (1) can offer invaluable help in this respect. Ergonomics can be regarded as a prerequisite for the protection of physiological, psychological and social well being of the worker and the society. Technological change whether it is planned or unplanned, couses some iteration between man and his physical and social work environment in all the sectors of production. That is why ergonomics can find its fields of application in manufacturing, service and agricultural actvities. The results of ergonomic research in these fields can contribute to, the design of optimun man-machice-environment systems (preventive ergonomics), testing of man-machine-environment systems (curative ergonomics), estimation of work load, performance and safety of the system (predictive ergonomics). Ergonomics is an interdisciplinary activity and makes use of many scientific and professional disciplines like anatomy, physiology, psychology, sociology, engineering and management. Therefore, the ergonomic research is conducted by people, having various backgrounds but a common objective of meeting the physical,, psychical and social needs of man (worker) at a satisfactory level.