Potentials and limitations of a system theory of macro-ergonomics
Macro-ergonomic interventions have shown many benefits in industrial application. However, macroergonomics is still very much an expert task, joining ergonomics knowledge with the application experience in the practical context. As a result, a broad expertise is needed for the application of macro-ergonomics and the prognosis of outcome comes along with some uncertainty due to the complexity of the system. The general nature of work environments as a complex system creates the ambivalence that on the one side a predetermination is needed to provide objective planning options, but, on the other side, complexity in itself deals with fuzziness and unpredictability. Seeing that this conflict cant be resolved, but the practical challenge to converge the two poles still applies, ergonomics must aim for separating both: providing a maximum consistent deterministic model and, at the same time, clearly identifying the aspects of complexity that are excluded from a deterministic consideration due to their fuzziness. The proposed paper demonstrates the generation of a comprehensive work system model that incorporates many existing macro-ergonomic concepts from different disciplinary backgrounds into a comprehensive model, and that integrates work system modelling with operational and with work system design. This allows joint consideration of design options with different regulatory levels on the operational, strategic and system design level. Complexity is reflected in this approach by limitations of the formal expression in terms of qualitative and quantitative descriptors. However, this approach allows provision of a framework for practical application - handling complex feedback systems - and respecting the inherent predictability limitations of such systems. This, again, helps to optimise the introduction of ergonomic principles to a maximum possible degree and clearly accept the limitations for anticipation and interference in real world systems.
Matthias Goebel Swantje Zschernack
Department of Human Kinetics and Ergonomics, Rhodes University, South Africa
国际会议
17th World Congress on Ergonomics(第十七届国际人类工效学大会)
北京
英文
1-8
2009-08-09（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）