Modular course provision for professional ergonomists with micro- and macro-ergonomic design competency in the system ‘human being–technology–organization’

Abstract

Ergonomics intends to convey the fundamental knowledge which is necessary to utilize existing design possibilities in human–machine systems and human–computer interaction, whilst taking abilities and limitations of people into consideration. This is, of course, true for developers, designers and production engineers alike, since, e.g. mechanical engineers need to develop and design instruments and tools, devices and facilities, as well as production equipment and to carry the responsibility for the products they create. Even though within a ‘scientific community’, a canon of generally accepted knowledge and skills for a specific discipline exists—what is taught and which areas of research are followed at the diverse ergonomics divisions are, to some degree, matters of personal choice of the university professors. This may, on the one hand, lead to the consequence that the inter-disciplinary goal of ergonomics may be somewhat neglected. Additionally, the scope and importance of ergonomics in the curriculum vary from university to university, irrespective of how important ergonomics may be in the education. On the other hand, the possibility to combine the various strengths of differing centres of excellence offers an extraordinary opportunity for the development of a comprehensive qualification. In light of this rather heterogeneous situation in the ergonomics field, modular course offerings in the form of inter-university co-operation have been developed, enabling micro- as well as macro-ergonomic design competency in the system ‘human being–technology–organization’ to be able to be conveyed to the student. The first step was to define and describe core modules which, in terms of content and quantity of material, must be considered fundamental elements of a well-founded education in the subject. Dependent on an individual's needs and previous knowledge, optional specialization modules are then offered in addition to this foundation. Personal preferences or ‘schools’ should not play a major role in the design of individual modules, rather the defining factors should be the needs of the ergonomist in practice, as well as a certain ergonomic ‘self-confidence’ and a challenging systems ergonomic requirement, which must be based not solely on simple point-scoring improvements in a work system but rather on a holistic view of the problem. Circumspect action and often profound thought, in the sense of ‘human factors engineering’, is required in order to achieve an optimal solution for the use of human capital, given the typical complexity of the circumstances. Considering the rather strong legal-normative foundation of ergonomics which has developed, an increased demand from businesses for the availability of well-founded ergonomic knowledge and design competency can be assumed.