Ergonomics is the study of the relationship between work and the environment in which it takes place. Sometimes referred to as ‘human engineering’, ergonomics concerns the relationship between people, activities, tools and the interior or exterior environment that they find themselves in. Individual or organizational ‘work’ in the context of building design can be defined as any activity involving people, materials or goods. The individuals’ physical and psychological characteristics referred to in the section about anthropometrics help to determine workplace arrangements, particularly important for comfort, health and safety, attitudes and motivation. The car-dealership as an organization will have a management structure with procedures, systems and policies designed to promote teamwork and co-operation towards defined ends.

An ergonomic process can be static like reading a book, almost static like tapping away at a keyboard or involve various degrees of movement and strenuous effort. The example of making a mug of coffee is ‘work’; a task made up of a series of movements which can be made easy or difficult depending on the arrangement of all the elements needed to undertake it. The distance between the kettle and the tap, the relative positioning of the cup, spoon, coffee and milk and the distance between the dripping spoon and the sink can be organized by design to make the task simple and uncomplicated, or difficult and messy, assessed by the phrase ‘user friendly’.

Making a mug of coffee is just one task in the kitchen. Bringing in raw materials, storage and preparation, cooking, serving food, washing up and putting everything away are all tasks involving work, and a good example of an ergonomic process, requiring easy access to components in the right order so that tasks are completed conveniently and safely.

As with anthropometrics, ergonomics is a combination of physical abilities and the performance of faculties. Walking, climbing, bending, reaching and lifting are obvious physical activities relating to carrying out tasks which can be made easy by design, or hazardous by neglect. For the car-dealership, the mechanics working on a damaged car are surrounded by equipment, tools and materials and need practicable access to parts, oils and waste bins. They also need good levels of natural and artificial lighting to see what they are doing as they perform their different tasks, environmental controls to remove harmful fumes and dust and an efficient heating system to keep warm when the external doors are opened in winter. In a commercial situation, ergonomics is very important to avoid injury, tiredness and wasted time. Information about working processes is often gained through ‘time and motion’ studies, seeing how tasks are being undertaken and how improvements could be implemented to make them more comfortable, safe and efficient.

Tasks need not be confined to manufacture and production. The health risks associated with looking at a computer monitor for long periods or prolonged operation of a keyboard are now well recognized. Repetitive strain injury in the fingers and wrists of keyboard operators could become a major problem of our time. Simply opening a door has its dangers, walking into and breaking glass, banging into someone on the other side and trapping fingers in the jambs are all elements of the design that must be considered if the task is to be made safe.

It is not necessary to examine all ergonomic processes from first principles as standard data is available on minimum space and arrangements for undertaking common tasks. For the car-dealership, many of the arrangements for working are well established, and the client will also be able to advise about their preferred requirements.