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Work physiology studies how the human body copes with physical stress and the work environment. Occupational physiologists use this knowledge to design workspaces that reduce physical fatigue, eliminate workplace injuries, and increase productivity. They study body systems and try to minimize the metabolic cost of work. The goal is to ensure workers perform tasks safely and efficiently within their working environment. This branch of physiology also monitors how much energy people expend on their task and ensures they are not pushed beyond their physical capacity to work.
Work physiology is a term associated with industrial engineering that pertains to how the human body copes with physical stress, job strain, and the work environment. Experts in this field study the physical toll work takes on a person in order to minimize it. Occupational physiologists apply their understanding in evaluating and designing workspaces that reduce physical fatigue, eliminate workplace injuries, and increase overall productivity. They need to understand how the body performs in a variety of environmental conditions, how much rest it requires, and when it’s capable of working at its peak.
Metabolism, respiration and circulation are just some of the body systems studied by physiologists. They also take into account skeletal, muscular and cardiovascular activity. Occupational physiologists are concerned with the metabolic cost of work and try to minimize it by making the workspace as ergonomic as possible. An occupational physiology laboratory has all the necessary equipment to measure parameters such as heart rate, oxygen consumption and core temperature. This branch of physiology also studies the changes that cause the human body following exposure to single or multiple cases of work-related stress.
Knowledge gained from work physiology is used to design workspaces that are suitable for a wide variety of people. For example, a designer may design a kitchen counter module suitable for a person over five feet five inches tall. Shorter people may find the counter space too tall to comfortably cook or chop vegetables. If the product was designed for a custom order, that’s no problem. If the designer is creating this design for mass production or using it to set up multiple workspaces in a food-related factory, it will be a big problem because it won’t be cost effective to work in the long run; housewives or workers can develop various shoulder or back related health problems if they use this workspace on a regular basis.
The goal of work physiology is to ensure that the worker performs his or her task safely as efficiently as possible within the working environment. Humans come in all sizes and shapes, making it difficult for occupational physiologists to design environments to suit all types. Normally, the environment is not controlled: there may be loud noises, flying dust particles and heat, for example, that the body has to deal with. This branch of physiology monitors how much energy people expend on their task and ensures they are not pushed beyond their physical capacity to work.
Some of the questions engineers, researchers, and scientists explore in the physiology of work include whether work can be done safely by workers, given the set of tools provided. They review methodology, circadian rhythms, and appropriate work-rest cycles. They are also studied for safety in variable working conditions, such as working with heavy machinery, temperature drops and variable oxygen levels. Jobs can also be categorized by level of difficulty based on an understanding of the physiology of the job.
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