On the Way to World-Wide Ergonomics a Methodical Approach to Introduce Ergonomics to Idc's a Typical Example from Sri Lanka

Abstract

With the comprehension of its wide implications, ergonomics has become an effective discipline and a productive field of practice and study since last two decades with an ever-growing demand. Yet there seems to be a challenge to all concerned at the dawn of the new millennium, to spread ergonomics world-wide and to fill the unfilled gap in knowledge and in practice in different parts of the world. Among the diversified need populations, third world countries have been identified as potential targets. They require critical attention, supportive sources and necessary help guidance to spread the knowledge and equally to up-lift working conditions. This paper brings the issues pertinent to the methodical approach to introduce ergonomics to Sri Lanka, where ergonomics was hardly known even by the early 90's. This attempt in fact, became a continuous process since 1988, and until to date many intervention programmes had been planned and carried out, where several institutions involved and played effective and supportive roles to make programmes successful. The paper discusses the intervention programmes in brief, which were initiated on the expert-base aiming to introduce ergonomics to the educational system and the industrial sector in Sri Lanka. The anticipated sources of constraints and the efforts to integrate into local transactional processes are surfaced. The future plans and intentions are briefly discussed in the later part of the paper.