Methodologies and Observation Tools in the Practical Exercise of Research-Intervention in Ergonomics. Impressions from Chile

Abstract

The text explains the context in which Ergonomics is developed in Chile and how this context has influenced the observation about the work that the Ergonomist has. The text mentions successful cases, product of a good observation and the raise of problems with a comprehensive and participatory approach. However, the greatest influence has been linked to the development of legal regulations linked with health and safety conditions. These regulations have been orienting the focus of attention regarding the observation of the Ergonomist. This, according to the authors, has meant deviations, which should be the approach of the ergonomist to a problem. Five biases were identified. These have to do with the loss of the focus of the analysis, where health and safety issues predominate, and diminishing attention for the functioning of the system in general. The Ergonomist’s limited opportunity for intervention in his environment, since his role is very limited to achieve legal issue. The scarce possibility of choosing evaluation tools, since the normative issue also determines that aspects. The validity of the instruments and the reliability of the results was another bias. Finally, both a low precision and poor integration during the analysis of the data was also detected as an aspect to be improved. It is concluded that the role of the ergonomist needs to be reinforced as an observer of the environment in a contextualized way, in order to achieve a more complete identification during the analyzed and therefore develop better and integral proposals.