The Emergence of Ergonomics Science in the United Kingdom

In 1952, the first Ergonomics science came into the UK through the formation of Ergonomics Society where individuals from different fields such as psychology, physiology, biology and design were gathered together. However, the beginning regarding it took place in 1949 when on 12th July in the meeting of the British Admiralty Professor Hugh Murrell at first officially proposed the name of “ergonomics” In 1950, the name was officially accepted and the words in forming the name were taken from Greek where Ergon means work and Nomos means natural law (HSE, 2019).

Taylorism is referred to the theory regarding scientific management as well as work efficacy which analyses along with synthesises the ways of workflow. The key objective of the theory is to improve economic efficiency mainly the productivity provided by labour. It is regarded as one of the early attempts for implementing science to the management and engineering process. The Taylorism theory was founded by Frederick Taylor (Waring, 2016).

The main areas of Ergonomics include:

Physical ergonomics which is arguably the most essential ergonomics types because many of the employers show priority for physical comfort while they try to make their workers properly accommodate to show productivity. This nature of ergonomics mainly focuses on the way in which bodies of the people interact with the tools being used by them on everyday purpose (Boatca and Cirjaliu, 2015).

Cognitive ergonomic mainly focus on identifying the ability of the mind for processing information and interacting with information so that effective ways can be found to help individual retain information for showing efficiency at work (Boatca and Cirjaliu, 2015).

Social ergonomics assess the way in which the whole workplace can be optimised. The type of ergonomics focuses on finding ways in which teamwork can be optimised outputs can be increased, communication can be improved and overall product quality can be raised (Radjiyev et al. 2015).

Hazards of ergonomics include:

Chemical: Presence of dust, harmful gases, vapours, fumes and others (Virani et al. 2017).

Physical: Unguarded equipment, working from heights, wet floor and others (HSE, 2019).

Biological: Untreated infectious wastes, infection-prone workplace, unhealthy food preparation at the workplace and others (HSE, 2019).

Psychosocial: Presence of alcohol in the workplace, bullying, lack of work-life balance and others (Virani et al. 2017).

Ergonomics: Poor posture, awkward movements, vibration, improper work stations and others (Virani et al. 2017).

1. Musculoskeletal disorder is referred to the pain or injuries present in the musculoskeletal system of the humans like as nerves, tendons, ligaments along with structures which supports neck, limbs and back (Collins and O'Sullivan, 2015).

2. Analysing the illness:

a. Carpal Tunnel syndrome

Definition: Carpal Tunnel syndrome is referred to the condition in which pain, tingling and numbness in the arm and hands are felt and this occurs when one of the key nerves in the hand that is medial nerve is compressed in the wrist when it travels (Newington et al. 2015).

Causes: The disease is caused due to repetitive use of the same hand, improper hand and wrist position, hereditary reasons, hormonal change during pregnancy and others (Newington et al. 2015).

Symptoms: The symptoms of the illness include occasional shock in the hand, pain, weakness and clumsy feeling in the hand, inability to have proper grip and others (Newington et al. 2015).

Prevention Measures: The illness can be prevented by increasing the use of both hands and wrist and frequently talking break to use the hands (Newington et al. 2015)

Treatment: The non-surgical treatment includes creating changes in activity where hand and wrist position are frequently changed, using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, nerve gliding exercise and others (Newington et al. 2015).

Ulnar nerve disorder

Definition: The Ulnar nerve disorder happens due to the damage of the ulnar nerve which is travelling down in the arm to the wrist and fingers (Vikström et al. 2018).

Causes: The causes of the illness are direct nerve injury in the ulnar nerve, pressure on the nerve, long-term pressure and others (Vikström et al. 2018).

Symptoms: The symptoms of Ulnar nerve disorder include loss of hand coordination, pain, loss of grip and others (Vikström et al. 2018).

Prevention Measures: The early medication intervention and safe use of hands to avoid injury of nerves are required for preventing the illness.

Treatment: The treatment for the illness include using splint for supporting hands, physical therapy, occupation therapy and others (Vikström et al. 2018).

Definition: The cardiovascular diseases refers to the condition which includes blocking or narrowing down of blood vessels which often leads to chest pain, heart attack or stroke (Shah et al. 2015).

Causes: The causes of cardiovascular diseases include the presence of other diseases such as diabetes, obesity and others along with smoking, damaged blood vessels due to injury or alcohol intake, cholesterol and others (Shah et al. 2015).

Symptoms: The symptoms include chest pain, weakness, dry coughing, shortness of breath and others (Shah et al. 2015).

Prevention Measures: The proper intake of healthy diet along with effective medication intervention is required to prevent cardiovascular diseases.

Treatment: The treatment includes administration of medicines to control heartbeat, surgery and others (Shah et al. 2015).

d. Spinal disc hernia

Definition: The spinal disc hernia is referred to as the injury in the connective and cushioning tissue present between the vertebrae (Yang et al. 2016).

Causes: The causes include wear and tear of bones, mutation in genes, improper posture and others (Yang et al. 2016).

Symptoms: The symptoms include feeling of pain and numbness in the neck region, weakness, tingling feeling and others (Yang et al. 2016).

Prevention Measures: The prevention for the illness includes maintaining proper weight, practising good posture, avoid smoking, often stretching and others (Yang et al. 2016).

Treatment: The treatment includes ice and heat therapy for pain relief, physical exercise, oral steroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and others (Yang et al. 2016).

Definition: The Arthritis is referred to the tenderness and swelling of bones or joints with upcoming age (McInnes and Schett, 2017).

Causes: The causes of illness include joint injury, coming of age, obesity and others (McInnes and Schett, 2017).

Symptoms: The symptoms include swelling, redness, decreased motion of joints and others (McInnes and Schett, 2017).

Prevention Measures: The preventive measures include eating healthy diets, exercise, avoiding injury and others (McInnes and Schett, 2017).

Treatment: The treatment includes referring Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, Counterirritants and others to individuals (McInnes and Schett, 2017).

Definition: The muscular imbalance in referred to the illness in which muscle of one side become tightened in such a way so that it makes the muscle on other side weak leading the person to manage proper movement out of imbalance (Öhman, 2015).

Causes: The causes of muscle imbalance include repetitive movement, emotional stress, postural stress and others (Öhman, 2015).

Symptoms: The symptoms include abnormal joint pain, swelling, muscle tear and tension and others (Öhman, 2015).

Prevention Measures: The implementation of proper physical exercise is required at the proper time to prevent it (Öhman, 2015)

Treatment: The use of physical and occupational therapy is used for its treatment (Öhman, 2015).

The health problems to be experienced by dental hygienists include exposure to infection, radiation, minor cuts and bites, contamination and others (Hayes et al. 2016). This is mainly due to the fact they are involved in the assessment and examining the oral health of patients making them prone to get exposed to virus and bacteria. The use of proper protective glasses and eyewear, masks, washing of hands after assessing patients, wearing apron and others so that contact with infection can be minimised to reduce the risk for them (Mascarenhas and Atchison, 2015).

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References

Boatca, M.E. and Cirjaliu, B., 2015. A proposed approach for an efficient ergonomics intervention in organizations. Procedia economics and finance, 23, pp.54-62.

Radjiyev, A., Qiu, H., Xiong, S. and Nam, K., 2015. Ergonomics and sustainable development in the past two decades (1992–2011): Research trends and how ergonomics can contribute to sustainable development. Applied ergonomics, 46, pp.67-75.

Virani, S.R., Ahmed, A.A. and Halani, K.K., 2017. Ergonomics Related Occupational Health Hazards Among Nurses in Public And Private Hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan. i-Manager's Journal on Nursing, 7(4), p.27.

Waring, S.P., 2016. Taylorism transformed: Scientific management theory since 1945. UNC Press Books.

Collins, J.D. and O'Sullivan, L.W., 2015. Musculoskeletal disorder prevalence and psychosocial risk exposures by age and gender in a cohort of office based employees in two academic institutions. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 46, pp.85-97.

Hayes, M.J., Osmotherly, P.G., Taylor, J.A., Smith, D.R. and Ho, A., 2016. The effect of loupes on neck pain and disability among dental hygienists. Work, 53(4), pp.755-762.

Mascarenhas, A.K. and Atchison, K.A., 2015. Developing core dental public health competencies for predoctoral dental and dental hygiene students. Journal of public health dentistry, 75, pp.S6-S11.

McInnes, I.B. and Schett, G., 2017. Pathogenetic insights from the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The Lancet, 389(10086), pp.2328-2337.

Newington, L., Harris, E.C. and Walker-Bone, K., 2015. Carpal tunnel syndrome and work. Best practice & research Clinical rheumatology, 29(3), pp.440-453.

Öhman, A., 2015. The immediate effect of kinesiology taping on muscular imbalance in the lateral flexors of the neck in infants: a randomized masked study. PM&R, 7(5), pp.494-498.

Shah, A.D., Langenberg, C., Rapsomaniki, E., Denaxas, S., Pujades-Rodriguez, M., Gale, C.P., Deanfield, J., Smeeth, L., Timmis, A. and Hemingway, H., 2015. Type 2 diabetes and incidence of cardiovascular diseases: a cohort study in 1· 9 million people. The lancet Diabetes & endocrinology, 3(2), pp.105-113.

Vikström, P., Björkman, A., Carlsson, I.K., Olsson, A.K. and Rosén, B., 2018. Atypical sensory processing pattern following median or ulnar nerve injury—a case-control study. BMC neurology, 18(1), p.146.

Yang, X., Zhang, Q., Hao, X., Guo, X. and Wang, L., 2016. Spontaneous regression of herniated lumbar discs: Report of one illustrative case and review of the literature. Clinical neurology and neurosurgery, 143, pp.86-89.