Ergo is the first part of the word "ergonomic" or human factors (HF). HF is an umbrella term for several areas of research that include human performance, technology, design, and human-computer interaction. It is the study of how people interact with products, tools, procedures, and processes.

HF is viewed by some people to be a form of dark magic. However, HF techniques are being used to limit stress in the workplace and increase efficiency. These techniques address fatigue, proper maintenance instructions, working conditions, and contribute to improving important concepts, such as tool design. The techniques have changed and improved through the years.

I remember working on aircraft in Memphis in the middle of the summer; there were so many ergonomic improvements needed. Working in the heat of a Memphis summer guaranteed only one thing, you were only as effective as your ability to dodge that humidity. The effects the heat had on our shift work were incredible, but at the time we never knew about these impacts and how to work with them, or worse, how they would work on us.

But the mechanic workforce deals with so many productivity-devastating issues like: improper lighting, unventilated workplaces, varying shift hours and time constraints. Many a manager advised us to "suck it up" and finish the task at hand. But they didn’t know about the existence of tools and skills that allow us to function in these hostile environments because they were only just being developed.

In college I was first exposed to a course called human factors. Human factors explained why we do the things we do and what effects them and us. With further human factors courses I discovered that modern science has not been idle; studies into the impact of environment over mechanics were well underway. Universities and research organizations were making good use of research grants to put hard facts to the trials we as mechanics go through every day on the line, in the hangar or on the road. Patterns of stress, both mental and physical, were starting to become more than evident to the researchers. The different conditions that we had been working in were adding to our inefficiencies and health problems.

When I joined the government I found that the NTSB put HF in front of its investigations in maintenance, flight operations and air traffic control. As the NTSB maintenance investigator, I was teamed with a HF guy who sat through the mechanic interviews with me. I asked the questions that pertained to the maintenance environment, but the HF guy broadened the questions to include effects of the work environment on the mechanics themselves. The next investigation, I specifically requested my HF buddy’s help before anything else.

The FAA took a proactive approach to getting HF training into the industry for us maintenance types; to give us the tools we need to be safe. The knowledge of HF experts has been brought into the FAA to build on HF concepts. A DVD called "A Vision for Aviation Maintenance Human Factors" was released, which provides an overview of maintenance human factors. Guidance, Advisory Circular 120-72, has gone out to help safety investigators and operators in the field evaluate and accept human factors techniques in maintenance training programs. The approach has been to highlight specific areas to the inspectors in the field. For instance, the recent "Operators Manual for Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance" noted the following areas of concern: event investigation, documentation, human factors training, shift/task turnover, fatigue management, and the sustaining and justification of a human factors program (visit http://www.hf.faa.gov/opsManual). These areas of study are a result of industry input, both from the floor and management. The findings are what Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance, formerly known as Maintenance Resource Management, are based on.

The FAA is co-sponsoring the "Human Factors in Maintenance and Ramp" symposium in Orlando, September 5-6, 2007.

The many needs of the maintenance industry are being addressed, whether one works in the dry heat of Phoenix or the wind chills of Omaha. We need better ways to do our jobs, ergo, … nomically speaking, human factors techniques are those ways, of the future.