FEES proposal on “Future of work”

FEES proposes the member societies implement the IEA “future of work project in Europe, which means:

  • To create a FEES Task Force “future of work”
  • To name in each member society a referee on this issue, which tasks are:
    • To lead and moderate the reflection
    • To inventory the research centers and private or public bodies involved in this issues: detecting local, national, regional data on issues affecting the working life; employment and job trends from governmental reports and from employers and workers organizations; research papers from academia.
    • To spread information on the issue
    • To get in touch with the ILO offices in the European countries in order to make known the project and to envisage everyday actions, to capture ILO initiatives, data, reports, publications.
    • To make proposals in order to improve and develop the initiatives proposed by the IEA “future of work” task force.
    • To meet by skype and physically (at the latest during the IEA triennial congress in Florence – August 2018)
  • To set up an European observatory on the Future of work linked with the IEA observatory.
    The aim of the Observatory is to capture and report data and news of ergonomics interest about trends on the world of work identified in each country in order to create an ergonomics observatory unit in (geographical) Europe.
  • To prepare the initiatives to set up in the year 2019 with ILO.

Please send comments / proposals to Pascal Etienne secretary-general@ergonomics-fees.eu.

The IEA “future of work project (summary)

IEA has decided to be involved in the ILO project on the future of work, launching a reflection conducted by a task force whose leader is our colleague Juan Hiba, from Argentina. In two documents released in January 2018, our colleague make proposals which are sum up below.

It is important that FEES, in the frame of the MoU adopted with IEA, takes part in this project and sets up a FEES task force in order to specify actions to conduct in 2018, 2019 and maybe further. We will present below both IEA projects and the possible way of working on this issue for the FEES member societies.

Two proposals have been made by J. Hiba on behalf of the « future of work » task force: to set up a White paper on the future of work and an Observatory. They are sum up below.

The “White paper on the future of work”

Context – Rationale – Opportunities

This initiative links the prospects of the future of ergonomics as a science and technology with the ILO initiative of its centenary named “The Future of Work” and could be a roadmap for guiding IEA’s and its affiliated associations on how to gain ILO interest for paying more attention to ergonomics from now on. A strategy should be developed to ensuring that the White Paper reaches all the ILO levels: headquarters and in the field.

Structure and content of the white paper

1 Presentation of ergonomics as a science and technology; (ii) summary of the background of joint activities carried out; and (iii) focus on the concurrent circumstances of the future of ergonomics and the future of work and therefore the opportunity for discovering key aspects of common actions.

2 Visions and proposals of IEA in relation to each of the four global dialogues (also called “centenary conversations”) as requested by the ILO are:

  • Work and Society: new scenario; changes in the workers and employers’ identity; globalization; new digitalized technologies and communications; hyperconnectivity.
  • Decent Jobs for All: full employment; safe and free productive work, social protection, union rights, remuneration.
  • The Organization of Work and Production: to tackle issues of the emerging platform economy, global supply chains and the nature of the enterprises of the future
  • The Governance of Work: to identify the rules, processes, and institutions needed in the future to make work decent and societies just.

A special attention should be given to point out the links of ergonomics to the most current issues of interest to the ILO, such as the green economy, the phenomena of offshoring of companies, jobs in the computer world, robotization of many jobs, issues of safety and health at work and participation of workers in the processes of improving their working conditions.

3 The current convergence of common grounds of action between IEA (“ergonomics optimizes human well being and overall system”) and ILO (: “Promoting jobs, protecting people”) – a comparative list of work topics and productive sectors of interest for ergonomics and for the ILO – a selection of successful case studies showing ergonomics interventions in different regions of the world. These examples should show both benefits to workers (i.e. satisfaction, better labor relations and working conditions) as well as improved business productivity and sustainability. It is highly recommended that case studies come from different world regions (Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa),

4 list a series of tentative activities and initiatives offered to ILO.

5 Collaborators mentioned : Yushi Fujita, Kathleen Mosier, José Orlando Gomes; Andrew Todd, Thomas Alexander, Sarah Sharples, Juan Carlos Hiba, + Sara Albolino and Valérie Pueyo.

6 Language of the document: the three official languages of ILO: English, Spanish and French.

The Observatory

The aim of the Observatory is to provide periodic information on situations, trends and work cases that establish, set or modify different aspects of the quality of life of workers; to give support and encourage carrying out of studies and research on ergonomic aspects of quality of life of workers in the local socio-economic and labor environments; and to promote greater knowledge (principles and values) and disseminate examples of application (approaches, methods and technical tools) of ergonomics and human factors for improving the quality of working life.

The Ergonomics Observatory can develop activities of at least three types

  • Search and analysis of information of ergonomic interest such as detecting, identifying, analyzing and commenting on changes and/or innovations that have occurred in the field of quality of life at work that are of interest to ergonomics;
  • systematic communication of detected information (data, facts and figures, situations, trends and cases) related to the quality of work-life; and
  • launching warnings, calls for attention and organizing advocacy actions among stakeholders to ensure that ergonomics is more and better known and to disseminate the potential contributions that could be made in those cases.

Information sources

Journalistic notes, interviews and articles from scientific works of refereed journals; reports, or books from research centres; publications of governmental agencies; declarations or manifestos emanating from scientific congresses, reports from employers’ and workers’ organizations; regulation in collective agreements or laws, decrees, resolutions and reports adopted by governments or specialized agencies.

Users

National ergonomics associations, their members and professional, teachers, researchers, officials from governments, members of employers’ and workers’ organizations; news agencies ; employers, workers and public in general.

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August 28-30, 2013
Paris1 University Panthéon – Sorbonne, Paris, France

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Future of ergonomics in Europe: from health and safety managment to sustainability development

FEES Session at the 50th Anniversary Congress of the SELF Ergonomics: Meeting society’s challenges
August 28-30, 2013
Paris1 University Panthéon – Sorbonne, Paris, France

Presentations

L’avenir de l’ergonomie en Europe : de la prise en charge de la santé sécurité au travail à l’implication dans une problématique de développement durable

Chair(s): Sylvain LEDUC (Aix-Marseille Université), Pascal ETIENNE (Ministère du Travail)

Dans le champ de la santé et de sécurité au travail, les principales contributions des ergonomes se sont focalisées sur la conception de systèmes de travail sûrs, avec des apports le plus souvent sous formes de normes techniques (formalisées dans le cadre du Comité Européen de normalisation – CEN, par exemple) et de guides pratiques d’aide à la conception de machines ou de lieux de travail. Ces contributions répondent à une demande sociale, le plus souvent médiatisée par des institutions européennes dans le cadre de campagnes de communication ou répondant à une exigence de régulation (p. ex. sur la question des troubles musculo-squelettiques ou bien des risques psycho-sociaux). Aujourd’hui, de nouvelles perspectives de recherche et d’intervention se font jour en ergonomie à partir des notions de prévention durable (notamment des troubles musculo-squelettiques), d’éco-design, d’intégration des préoccupations environnementales dans tout le cycle de vie d’un produit. L’ergonomie, qui est riche de concepts éprouvés permettant la conception de système de travail sûrs, est de plus en plus sollicitée pour contribuer à l’émergence de systèmes de travail et de vie permettant un usage responsable et respectueux de l’environnement. Dans ce cadre, de nombreuses interrogations apparaissent:

  • Comment passe-t-on d’une ergonomie de la prévention ciblée à ergonomie de la gestion anticipée des externalités du travail sur le facteur humain ?
  • Dans quelles conditions les concepts de base de l’ergonomie peuvent-ils contribuer –directement ou au prix de quelles adaptations – au développement durable?
  • Peut- on avoir comme perspective l’émergence d’une ergonomie du développement durable ou «éco – ergonomie»?

Presentations of the Symposium 

An analysis of the work-sustainability relationship and the contributions of activity ergonomics

Claudio Marcelo BRUNORO (Production Engineering Department of Universidade de São Paulo), Ivan BOLIS (Production Engineering Department of Universidade de São Paulo), Laerte Idal SZNELWAR (Production Engineering Department of Universidade de São Paulo), Natalia MANZONI (Production Engineering Department of Universidade de São Paulo), Bruno de Paula VICENTE (Production Engineering Department of Universidade de São Paulo), Luciano de FREITAS (Production Engineering Department of Universidade de São Paulo)

The aims of this exploratory study are 1) to identify work-sustainability relationship categories based on an analyzes of corporate sustainability reports, sustainability guidelines that consider work as a key issue (e.g. GRI, ISO, UN Global Compact, SA8000 and Ethos), and relevant documents from the United Nations and the International Labor Organization and 2) to highlight the contributions that the activity ergonomics approach can provide. As a result, under a activity ergonomics perspective, there are two major work-sustainability relationship categories: the work for sustainability and the sustainability of the work(er). In both categories activity ergonomics approach has significant contributions.
 

Usability for Sustainability: case study of a product-system for the tourist fruition of the cities of art

Emilio ROSSI (Università degli Studi ‘G. d’Annunzio’ Chieti e Pescara), Giuseppe DI BUCCHIANICO (Ergonomics for Sustainability Research Unit), Antonio MARANO (Ergonomics for Sustainability Research Unit)

Resuming the strategies and arguments of ergonomic design for Sustainability developed by the Ergonomics and Design for Sustainability Research Unit of the University of Chieti-Pescara, the paper reaffirms its applicative potentialities through the exposure of a recent experience of design research.
 

Ergonomic Development and Research in Hungary

Gyula SZABO (Hongrie)

Ergonomics is not blooming in Hungary regarding the recognition and attractiveness of the profession or the position of the professional organisations, such as the Hungarian Ergonomics Society.
This paper describes the past and present of the Hungarian ergonomics profession. Campaigns “Let’s drink (water) Judith’s health”, “The Office Chair of the Year” and “E2O – Solicitation of Ideas in Ergonomics” are presented. Among the activities of MET some regular events, promotional and communication materials, international and national responsibilities are described.
The paper ends with the summary of some ergonomic research projects in Hungary including cognitive, workplace rehabilitation research projects.
 

Building Sustainable Human-Centered Complex Systems

Waldemar KARWOWSKI (1 Institute for Advanced Systems Engineering), Tareq AHRAM (1 Institute for Advanced Systems Engineering), Ben AMABA (IBM Complex Systems – Rational Software)

Given the most competitive nature of global business environment, effective engineering innovation and leadership is a critical requirement for all levels of product or systems lifecycle development. Sustainability of workforce and engineering competence skills are extremely important due to a general shortage of engineering talent and the need for mobility of highly trained professionals.  This paper provides a motivation and quest for sustainable human factors and ergonomics (HF/E) approach in complex systems design and development.  The considerable advancements achieved in complex systems engineering indicate that the adaptation of sustainable HF/E can lead to highly sophisticated yet widely useable collaborative applications in order to ensure sustainability of limited resources such as energy and clean water. The sustainable HF/E in complex systems design proves critical in maintaining skills needed in future capable workforce.
 

Human Factors and Sustainable Development: a German Perspective

Klaus J. ZINK (Institut für Technologie und Arbeit)

The anthropocentric definition of sustainable development by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) in 1987 leads to joint objectives between Human Factors/Ergonomics (HF/E) and sustainable development. 
From a German perspective one has to differentiate between developments in science especially in human factors/ergonomics and related disciplines and the situation in German companies. As one example respective activities of the German Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (Gesellschaft für Arbeitswissenschaft, GfA)) and its members, but also publications of non-members have to be considered. 
The analysis of the development in German companies is focused on their corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports and their development during the last years. Of course, the social dimension described in these reports is of specific importance. In addition recent studies regarding working conditions in Germany have to be discussed. As sustainable working conditions are also referred to (international) supply chains this aspect will be included.
The paper ends with a summarizing evaluation of the situation in Germany.