Transforming tomorrow
Human factors thinking could play a significant role in tackling systemic problems facing people in India’s mega-cities, researchers claim. A new study claims ergonomics needs to be expanded to tackle preventable deaths which are often labelled as ‘bad luck’.
It sets out the key areas where the discipline can be developed to help improve safety and wellbeing while also creating jobs and building a “comprehensive national ergonomics mission”. And it calls for more education to create a new generation of workers who understand and employ ergonomics thinking.
The article, published in the journal Ergonomics, argues that “the opportunities in India for ergonomists are immense but untapped”. It identifies four key directions for change: developing academic institutional capacity; advocating for an engaged and awareness-oriented outlook; developing coherence and competence across ergonomics; and creating an Indian-centric pathway for growth.
The study added: “Ergonomics thinking can go beyond devising more robust measures related to product safety or usage policy in comprehending systemic problems that need addressing. These problems can only be recognised if an ergonomics thinking approach is prevalent in large numbers and various modalities of practice.”