Ergonomics Methods to Understand Human Factor Issues

Methods Covered in Handbook by Neville Stanton et al.
The methods listed here presently are covered in the "Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics Methods" Edited by Neville Stanton et al. , CRC Press, Boca Raton, USA, 2005.
The list is basically the contents of the book

The methods listed here presently are covered in the "Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics Methods" Edited by Neville Stanton et al. , CRC Press, Boca Raton, USA, 2005.

 

The list is developed basically from the contents of the book.

Links take you to knols having brief explanation of the method and sources of further information.

 

Physical methods

 

1. Assessment of exposure to manual patient handling in hospital wards : MAPO index (movement and assistance of hospital patients)   
2. Lumbar motion monitor 
3. Musculoskeletal discomfort surveys used at NIOSH

4. Muscle fatigue assessment : functional job analysis technique  

5. PLIBEL - the method assigned for identification of ergonomic hazards 

6. Posture checklist using personal digital assistant (PDA) technology

7. Psychophysical tables : lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, and carrying
8. Quick exposure checklist (QEC) for the assessment of workplace risks for work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs)  
9. Rapid upper limb assessment (RULA)  
10. Rapid entire body assessment 

11. Scaling experiences during work : perceived exertion and difficulty

12 The Dutch musculoskeletal questionnaire (DMQ)

13 The occupational repetitive action (OCRA) methods : OCRA index and OCRA checklist    
14. The strain index

  
 

 Psychophysiological methods 

 
1 Electrodermal measurement 
2 Electromyography (EMG) 
3 Estimating mental effort using heart rate and heart rate variability 
4 Ambulatory EEG methods and sleepiness 
5 Assessing brain function and mental chronometry with event-related potentials (ERP) 
6 MEG and fMRI 
7 Ambulatory assessment of blood pressure to evaluate workload 
8 Monitoring alertness by eyelid closure 
9 Measurement of respiration in applied human factors and ergonomics research 

 Behavioral and cognitive methods 

 
1 Observation 
2 Applying interviews to usability assessment 
3 Verbal protocol analysis 
4 Repertory grid for product evaluation 
5 Focus groups 
6 Hierarchical task analysis (HTA) 
7 Allocation of functions 
8 Critical decision method 
9 Applied cognitive work analysis (ACWA) 
10 Systematic human error reduction and prediction approach (SHERPA) 
11 Task analysis for error identification 
12 Mental workload 
13 Multiple resource time sharing models 
14 Critical path analysis for multimodal activity 
15 Situation awareness measurement and the situation awareness global assessment technique 

 
Team methods 

 
1 Team training 
2 Distributed simulation training for teams 
3 Synthetic task environments for teams : CERTT's UAV-STE 
4 Event-based approach to training (EBAT) 
5 Team building 
6 Measuring team knowledge 
7 Team communications analysis 
8 Questionnaires for distributed assessment of team mutual awareness 
9 Team decision requirement exercise : making team decision requirements explicit 
10 Targeted acceptable responses to generated events or tasks (TARGETs) 
11 Behavioral observation scales (BOS) 
12 Team situation assessment training for adaptive coordination 
13 Team task analysis 
14 Team workload 
15 Social network analysis 

 

 

 Environmental methods 

 
1 Thermal conditions measurement 
2 Cold stress indices 
3 Heat stress indices
4 Thermal comfort indices 
5 Indoor air quality : chemical exposures 
6 Indoor air quality : biological/particulate-phase contaminant exposure assessment methods 
7 Olfactometry : the human nose as detection instrument 
8 The context and foundation of lighting practice
9 Photometric characterization of the luminous environment 
10 Evaluating office lighting
11 Rapid sound-quality assessment of background noise 
12 Noise reaction indices and assessment 
13 Noise and human behavior
14 Occupational vibration : a concise perspective
15 Habitability measurement in space vehicles and earth analogs 

 

 

 Macroergonomic methods 

 

 

1 Macroergonomic organizational questionnaire survey (MOQS) 
2 Interview method 
3 Focus groups 
4 Laboratory experiment 
5 Field study and field experiment 
6 Participatory ergonomics (PE) 
7 Cognitive walk-through method (CWM) 
8 Kansei engineering 
9 HITOP analysis 
10 TOP-modeler
11 The CIMOP system 
12 Anthropotechnology
13 Systems analysis tool (SAT)
14 Macroergonomic analysis of structure (MAS)
15 Macroergonomic analysis and design (MEAD) 

 

Brief details of the methods along with relevant web pages will be covered in separate knols in future.

 

The handbook has a very useful format to develop awareness of various methods developed by ergonomists. I came across the book in the last week only, in my search for materials discussing relationship between Industrial Engineering and Ergonomics.

 

Visit for more details of "Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics Methods"

http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9780415287005 

Original knol - http://knol.google.com/k/narayana-rao/ergonomics-methods-to-understand-human/2utb2lsm2k7a/ 1677