Ergonomics

To unpack my activity so as to find the simple-ness of task I’m going to look at it through the heading of Ergonomics, Ambience, Affordances and the Practical Consideration.

Ergonomics

So what is ergonomics? Good question, my New English Dictionary (2001) states that it is ‘the study of the relationship between workers and their environment’. Now I’m thinking that that has to be this whole degree, that’s a new way to look at it. What really surprised me was that ergonomics is more than just setting up a work station to be comfortable. Let’s look at what ergonomics is through Occupational Therapy eyes.

Christiansen & Townsend stated that the goal of ergonomics is to improve the fit between people and their working conditions while improving safety, productivity, comfort and efficiency. How does it relate to gardening?  I think it’s all about perception and the meaning of the place or places that we as humans inhabit. In my humanities essay I stated that “Humans have the right and privilege to change their place of being”. Lowen, H.D. (2010). I was without thinking referring ergonomics, changing the fit of my environment and improving my place of being, my home, along with the ambience and aesthetics.

I studied the relationship or fit between myself and my garden, safety, productivity was not a problem, I wasn’t going to do much with it other than look, or so I thought until this paper. Let’s use the framework of POE and look closer;

Person – my garden very much lives on a time factor, if I don’t have the time to spend with it mindfully I don’t go there. ‘Mindfullness’ is about being in the ‘moment’ which can affect the desired outcome.

Occupation – I can pull a few weeds, mow the lawns or get stuck in with digging, pruning, trimming, planting, and feeding the plants.

Environment – I use my own back yard, that way no-one can see what mess it really is.

Christiansen, C.H., and Townsend, E.A. (2004). Introduction to occupation: The art and science of living. (2^nd ed)  New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. 

Lowen, H.D. (2010) Humanities Essay, Otago polytechnic, BT132001

New English Dictionary (2001), Harper-Collins, Glasglow.