Evaluation of a work space based on an ergonomic design methodology of the built environment

Abstract

The theme of this study is the evaluation of a work environment based on the Methodology of Ergonomic Assessment of the Built Environment – MEAC (Villarouco, V., 2007. Is the environment adequate? Proceedings of the 1st Brazilian meeting of the built environment and 2nd Brazilian seminar of accessibility (In Portuguese). Recife, Brazil, Villarouco, V., 2008. Designing a methodology to evaluate the ergonomic environment. Proceedings of the Brazilian Congress of ergonomics (In Portuguese). Porto Seguro: ABERGO, Villarouco, V., 2009. An ergonomic look at the work environment. Proceedings of IEA 2009: 17th World Congress on ergonomics. Beijing, China: IEA – International Ergonomics Association). An attempt was made to identify factors of the built space that most significantly influence how work activities are undertaken, based on the evaluation of the space of a government management audit and accounting department. The evaluation was made over two steps: before and after alterations made to the space, which allowed a comparison to be made between the adaptability of the spaces and the activities. The methodological procedure applied in this study allowed an analysis that set out to identify the interactions between the variables of the built environment and how the activities were undertaken. This method of applying ergonomics to the design of built environments showed that some characteristics of the spaces influence the costs of production, human costs and the efficiency of the process.