The word Ergonomics has its origin in two Greek words Ergon meaning work and Nomos meaning laws. So it is the study of the man in relation to his work.

Ergonomics is defined as “The application of human biological sciences along with engineering sciences to achieve optimum mutual adjustment of men and his work, the benefits being measured in terms of human efficiency and well-being.”

It is also defined as “The design of human tasks, man machine system, and effective accomplishment of the job, including displays for presenting information to human sensors, controls for human operations and complex man-machine systems.”

Objectives of Ergonomics:

Ergonomics has two broader objectives-

1. To enhance the efficiency and effectiveness with which the activities (work) is carried out so as to increase the convenience of use, reduced errors and increase in productivity.

2. To enhance certain desirable human values including safety, reduced stress and fatigue and improved quality of life.

Thus in general the scope and objectives of Ergonomics is “designing for human use and optimizing working and living conditions.”

Thus Ergonomics discovers and applies information about human behavior, abilities and limitations and other characteristics to the design of tools, machines, systems, tasks, jobs and environment for productive, safe, comfortable and effective human use.