Ergonomics in the Design Process - the Missing Link

Process safety addresses many issues related to the safety of employees in the workplace and human performance. Human factors is included in the safety culture element, however ergonomics is often neglected. It has been said that human factors addresses worker safety from the neck up (cognitive issues) and ergonomics addresses safety from the neck down (anthropometric aspects). Admittedly, this is a gross analogy, however it is useful for discussion purposes.

During the design phase, it is rare that ergonomics is included as a priority in the decision process. How many times have we seen valves controlling processes placed eight feet off the ground where operations personnel are required to place chains to articulate them. This is often the cause of injuries we see surface in PHAs. These hazards are often disregarded as unavoidable because it was part of the original design, however if ergonomics would have been considered in the original design, then the valve would have been properly placed where operations personnel could easily access the valve without causing injury.

This paper will discuss the importance of incorporating ergonomics principles into the design of process equipment with the goal of reducing the potential for employee injury.