Introduction
Both anthropometrics and ergonomics are used as part of design specification of a product. In which case, anthropometrics refers to the study of body sizes of human in relation to given products. It involves collection of data, referred to as Anthropometric data that are associated to human body. Ergonomics refers to the study of people with the major aim of determining their relationship with the products that they utilize. The relationship between the two aspects thereby comes out given that anthropometric data are needed in ergonomics to help in coming up with suitable product design.
Brief history
The term, ergonomics was first seen in a philosophical story by Wojciech in 1857 (Yang et al, 45). This was followed by the use of the concept in aiding workers to be productive in the early 1900. During this period, the industries depended much on workers physical exertion to improve productivity. The real beginning of exploration of ergonomics was during World War II when military necessitated the need for physical abilities of the human body (Yang et al, 45). The timeline of ergonomics can framed in terms of transition from being a prevention measure of health problems to aiding in alignment of human being to fully execute tasks. The efficiency of ergonomics was made by anthropometric data (Great Britain. Health and Safety Executive, 54).
Dimension for different heights
The following information was retrieved from the article written by Scott Openshaw and Erin Taylor
Range of users
For 50% measure the following are the range of users who will fall in 5th to 95th percentile (Openshaw & Taylor, 7).
Female who are between 31.3” to 35.8”
And male who are between 33.6” – 38.3”
These are mostly youths to adults
Work cited
Openshaw, Scott and Taylor, Erin. Ergonomics and Design: A Reference Guide. Allsteel Inc. 2006. Retrieved from: http://www.allsteeloffice.com/synergydocuments/ergonomicsanddesignreferenceguidewhitepaper.pdf
Yang, Gi-Chul, Sio-Iong Ao, and Len Gelman. Iaeng Transactions on Engineering Technologies: Special Volume of the World Congress on Engineering 2012. Dordrecht: Springer, 2013. Internet resource.
Great Britain. Health and Safety Executive. Understanding Ergonomics at Work: Reduce Accidents and Ill Health and Increase Production by Fitting the Task to the Worker. Sudbury: HSE Books, 2003. Print.
