A survey of tools and methods used by certified professional ergonomists

A survey of Certified Professional Ergonomists (CPEs) was conducted to gather information on the types of basic tools, direct and observational measurement techniques, and software used by practitioners. The motivation for the survey was to better understand what types of tools and methods practitio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inApplied ergonomics Vol. 36; no. 4; pp. 489 - 503
Main Authors Dempsey, Patrick G., McGorry, Raymond W., Maynard, Wayne S.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2005
Elsevier
Elsevier Science Ltd
Subjects
Applied physiology
Biological and medical sciences
Certification
Data Collection
Ergonomics
Ergonomics - instrumentation
Ergonomics - methods
Ergonomics tools
Ergonomics. Work place. Occupational physiology
Human physiology applied to population studies and life conditions. Human ecophysiology
Humans
Industry
Medical equipment
Medical sciences
Pilot Projects
Practitioner
Professional Practice
Software
United States
Practitioner
Ergonomics
Ergonomics tools
Human
Questionnaire
Methodology
Professional practice
Professional activity
Tool
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Summary:A survey of Certified Professional Ergonomists (CPEs) was conducted to gather information on the types of basic tools, direct and observational measurement techniques, and software used by practitioners. The motivation for the survey was to better understand what types of tools and methods practitioners use, their opinions of these tools, and to potentially gain an understanding of the constraints or preferences that influence this selection. Reasons for using or not using a selection of tools were also surveyed. Of 578 surveys that were delivered to CPEs and Associate Ergonomics Professionals, 308 were returned for a response rate of 53%. The respondents tended to be biased towards physical ergonomics, as the survey primarily focused on this area of ergonomics. A high percentage of respondents reported using tape measures, video cameras, stopwatches and digital cameras. The most commonly used observational methods were those involving manual materials handling, whereas the most commonly used direct measurement tools were pinch and grip dynamometers and push/pull gauges. The frequency and type of checklists, software, and anthropometric data used are summarized.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:0003-6870
1872-9126
DOI:10.1016/j.apergo.2005.01.007