Building a better future
Human factors could have a greater role to play in addressing the challenges of sustainable development, a new study claims. The United Nations has identified 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) which will help improve lives and reduce inequality and poverty while also tackling the climate crisis. A review of human factors research linked to these goals reveals the SDGs and topics where work has already been carried out.
It identified six main areas of research interest, including theoretical systemic approaches, activity-centred ergonomics, contributions to health and safety and future-proofing designs. But the review also highlighted a wide range of areas and opportunities for new research into how human factors can contribute to sustainable development solutions.
The study, published in the journal Ergonomics, said: “It was observed that there are very few articles presenting actual empirical work related to ergonomics/human factors and sustainability. This observation means that there are many opportunities for future applied research and practice on ergonomics/human factors and sustainability.”
It added: “While many of the relevant SDGs have been superficially addressed by ergonomics and human factors, relatively few SDG targets have had any concerted effort. This systematic literature review therefore generates a rich source of evidence for which SDGs require effort to enable a sustainable future for humankind.”
