This issue has a bit of a "backward glance" sort of flavour about it. You'll find a summary of the last Council/Board meeting of 1997, and annual reports from the AGM.
Looking forward, the 1998 annual conference (October 5-7 in Melbourne) is shaping up to be a big one. You'll find a brochure included with this issue. Note that the deadline for 300 word abstracts of proposed papers, workshops, seminars and posters are due Friday March 27, so now is the time to act! For more information contact ESA National Conference Secretariat, Conference Plus, Level 10, 459 Lt Collins St., Melbourne, Australia 3000. Ph. +61 3 9602 3073; Fx +61 3 9642 5152 or email esa@ozemail.com.au.
Also looking forward, the April issue of the journal will contain a number of articles on the theme of "Ergonomics in Mining". It is not too late for you to contribute. Contributions may take a variety of forms. Reports of basic or applied research are welcomed, but other material which does not readily find outlet in archival journals are especially encouraged. Suitable items would include critical reviews of literature, case studies, teaching materials, work in progress, and items of anecdotal, speculative, controversial, or even polemic character. Inclusion of graphics is highly encouraged. Short video clips may also be appropriate. Length is also flexible - short items will be in both Ergonomics Australia & Ergonomics Australia On-Line, long items will be included in the electronic version and abstracted in the paper version. The deadline is March 15, but material submitted after that date will be considered for future issues.
The theme for the June issue will be "Office Ergonomics", and again contributions are encouraged. The deadline for this issue is yet to be determined, but one thing is certain. All submissions for the June issue must be via email. The reason for this is that I will be in Delft, and compiling the issue electronically (that's the plan anyway). That doesn't mean you can't send me hard copy in the mail, or by fax, just that it won't be published until August. If it is something really urgent, and you can't get access to email, let Margot know at the federal secretariat and hopefully a satisfactory solution can be found.
There are some exciting electronic resources noted in this issue. The 1997 ESA Annual Conference papers are now available on the web (http://www.dtir.qld.gov.au/hs/ergo97/ergo97.htm). They are still not perfect (some figures are still not there) but they are an improvement over the version mailed on CD. I understand that a replacement CD will also be soon mailed to members and delegates. I also commend the revamped Typing Injury FAQ, now maintained by Scott Wright.
Best wishes to all for the New Year
Robin Burgess-Limerick
p.s., I have in my sticky paws a copy of Blewitt, V. & Shaw, A. "Best practice in OHS Management" which is looking for a good home, someone who will read it carefully and provide an insightful review/commentary for Ergonomics Australia. Please let me know if you are interested.
Email: robin@hms.uq.edu.auÊ
Dear Fellow Ergonomes
When I was at the SEAES conference in Kuala Lumpur last November there were some dark clouds on the horizon, both literally from the fires burning in Indonesia and Malaysia and metaphorically from the deteriorating economic situation throughout South-East Asia. Now, as I write these notes in January, the monsoon rains have doused the bush fires but, if anything, the economic clouds seem darker - not an encouraging start to the year. This will obviously put pressure on the members of the South-East Asian Ergonomics Society who are resident in the countries most affected by weakening currencies, and though Australia is not yet affected to anything like the same extent, those of us who are members of the UK and US ergonomics societies are having to pay more to continue our membership. Today's newspaper reported a 2.3% fall in the Australian stock market - hopefully by the time you read this things will have improved somewhat -and my experience is that as companies feel the economic pinch they are less likely to spend money on employing ergonomics consultants, which is contradictory because when times are hard then good ergonomics is money well spent. And the universities are seeking ways to cut course costs, which puts extreme pressure on academic staff to deliver educationally satisfactory courses. Of course, I'm preaching to the converted, but the point I want to make is that we must continue to strive for excellence in whatever area of ergonomics we work - whether as consultants, health and safety practitioners, in government service, or in academia - simply because any apparent shortcomings in our performance will be seized on by the bean-counters or the "ergonomics is just common sense" school of thought.
Whilst at our annual conference on the Gold Coast I was privileged to be able to make a very short speech, on behalf of the ESA, as part of the opening ceremony, and I would like to share some of my words with you. The theme of the conference was "Productivity Ergonomics and Safety - the Total Package" and I commented that the emphasis on the total package is most important because it is terribly easy to get locked into our own narrow area of specialisation and lose sight of the wood for the trees. We can't all be experts on everything but we must know what the other fellow is talking about - to know enough to be able to communicate and to know our own areas of ignorance - in other words, to know what we don't know! So I commended the conference delegates to go to sessions on unfamiliar topics, where one can learn more than nit picking over a paper on a familiar topic. I went on to comment facetiously on the conference logo, but with a serious intention. I liked the dynamic look about the logo - my first impression was that it was a safety conscious archer (he seems to be wearing a safety helmet) practising without his bow and arrow. But for ultimate success it is essential that he must know where he is aiming - you may recall a line from a poem of Longfellow's which goes: "I shot an arrow into the air, it fell to earth I know not where". (Someone said to me afterwards "Do that in Hong Kong and you're bound to hit somebody!). We read in the Bible of an occasion where a king of Israel went into battle disguised as an ordinary soldier, rather than in his royal regalia, so that he wouldn't be a special target for the enemy's troops, but "Someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armour" which was both unlucky and fatal for the king. And King Harold, at the battle of Hastings in 1066, was hit in the eye by one of a shower of arrows fired by the Norman archers just when it looked as though the Saxons were going to win. But of course it's only very occasionally that you hit the bulls eye when you're not aiming at it. The serious point is that it's just as vital in ergonomics as in archery or war to have a clear understanding of who or what you're aiming at. This includes making sure that our ergonomics is always relevant to the needs of our employers, clients or students.
Quite apart from networking, I strongly believe that a good conference (and the Gold Coast conference was a good one) does give the opportunity to learn about new developments in the transfer of ergonomic results from the laboratory to the workplace, and new demonstrations of the effectiveness of ergonomic intervention in the workplace.
Best regards
Ian Gibson
I was delighted and honoured to learn of the award to me of the President's Medal for 1997. I regret that I was not present at the Annual Conference to receive the award in person and to express my appreciation at that time.
My records indicate that I joined the Society in 1969 (Annual Subscription $2 at that time), but I was not as active in the Society as I would have liked in those days, mainly because my professional activities were concentrated on the Institution of Engineers, where I chaired various committees, organised some conferences and edited a journal, my aim being to increase the awareness of human factors in engineers (well, at least I tried!).
As my teaching duties in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of New South Wales developed increasingly towards ergonomics. I began to appreciate more the value of the Ergonomics Society of Australia. For one thing, the meetings and conferences of the Society were much more fun than those of the Institution, but the matters discussed were also of direct relevance to my teaching. Ergonomics has also been the most enjoyable of the subjects I taught at University, mainly because both my students and I realised that there was so much in the subject that could be directly applied in industry or design. The relevance, if any, of many other university subjects is much more obscure.
The teaching of Ergonomics in the Department of Industrial Engineering probably had its origins with Erwin Tichauer when he was Senior Lecturer there in 1961-64. John Close, also Senior Lecturer in the Department and a Foundation Member of the Society, continued the subject with the aid of a number of part-time lecturers, including David Ferguson, Austin Adams, Roger Hall and Barbara McPhee. Sadly, John died a few months ago. He had been a regular attender of Society meetings in Sydney. I took over the Ergonomics subject in 1982, with the aim of integrating the sections and increasing the Credit rating from 2 to 3. The new subject, Principles of Ergonomics, was open to a number of postgraduate and final year engineering courses. and the enrolments rose remarkably from 20 to 50 in the first year, then to 80 in the following year. and then to 100. The class was split into 2 and then into 3 in order to retain the opportunity for discussion. Some substantial laboratory work was also introduced, and this also limited class sizes.
Once we introduced the postgraduate Safety Science courses, the popularity and relevance of ergonomics to OH & S suggested the introduction of a follow-on subject called Applied Ergonomics, and this was developed by Neil Adams. A full Postgraduate Diploma in Ergonomics was introduced in 1989. I left the University of NSW in 1990, but the Ergonomics courses and subjects have continued to develop under the capable supervision of Roger Hall.
While at Worksafe Australia I was able to continue teaching Ergonomics, this time in the Master of Occupational Health and Safety course. The numbers in this course were much lower than those I was used to at the University of NSW, but the students were of good quality, and probably potential leaders in OH & S. It was therefore extremely disappointing that the MOHS course was discontinued by Worksafe Australia, and also that the Ergonomics Unit was discontinued after it had showed so much promise in its research projects.
It has been gratifying to observe the development of ergonomics as a profession in Australia, although its recognition as such still has some way to go. The Society has played a vital role in this development. In my opinion, the essence of professionalism is to continually be comparing notes with one's peers in order to establish and maintain standards. The Society, through its regular meetings, conferences and publications provides the means for doing this. I hope it will continue to maintain and even increase the scientific standards of its activities and publications, but not at the expense of the element of fun!
Yours sincerely
Mike StevensonÊ
From Michael Patkin
About 3 issues ago I wrote about anti-ergonomics, or designing things specifically not to work, where this would achieve a desired purpose. I gave the example of John Snow and the Broad Street Pump. I did this from memory. Before some of the incomplete info I presented becomes enshrined in memory, readers may like to visit an authoritative site (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/snowinfo.htm) which describes Snow's work on stopping a cholera epidemic by removing a water pump handle.
A verbatim quote from that site now follows:
"Snow was able to prove his theory in 1854, when another severe epidemic of cholera occurred in London. Through painstaking documentation of cholera cases and correlation of the comparative incidence of cholera among subscribers to the city's two water companies, he showed that cholera occurred much more frequently in customers of one water company, the Southwark and Vauxhall. This company drew its water from the lower Thames, where it had become contaminated with London sewage, whereas the other company obtained water from the upper Thames. Snow's evidence soon gained many converts.
A striking incident during this epidemic has now become
legendary. In one particular neighborhood, the intersection of Cambridge
Street and Broad Street, the concentration of cholera cases was so great
that the number of deaths reached over 500 in 10 days. Snow investigated
the situation and concluded that the cause was centered around the Broad
Street pump. He advised an incredulous but panicked assembly of officials
to have the pump handle removed, and when this was done, the epidemic was
contained. The pump handle has remained a symbol of effective epidemiology,
and today the John Snow Pub, located near the site of the former pump in
London, boasts of having the "original" handle."
From Michael Rose (rosemj@bigpond.com)
I wish to take this opportunity to thank participants at the recent Annual Conference of the Ergonomics Society for their kind assistance allowing my participation in most activities, despite my broken leg.The Conference Organisers are also to be congratulated for a job well done, even accommodating yours truly at short notice.The conference airline QANTAS certainly look after people with disabilities.
Every Ergonomist and Health and Safety professional should use a wheel chair and crutches for a time in order to appreciate the ergonomics problems faced by their users. The wheel chairs are certainly not designed with the comfort of the occupants in mind and the standard crutches apply too much pressure to the palm of the hands. Are any members aware of any ergonomics studies in this area ?. If so would you contact me on rosemj@bigpond.com.au , as I intend to look into this areaafter my own experience.
Again I wish to apologise for the dark slides during my presentation,unfortunately I broke my leg at a time which prevented correction. As statedduring my presentation you are free to contact me by e-mail or phone on 041111 1258 if you wish to ask any questions. I am always interested in thework of any other members in this area.An Internet search under "Ergonomic Keyboards" will also provide many examples of input devices now readily available overseas.A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all
Yours sincerely
Michael Rose
Competencies: Jim Carmichael, the Convenor of the Project, formally tabled the draft of the Final Report of the Standing Committee to the President. The President thanked Jim and the motion was carried by acclamation. It was resolved that the Secretariat explore costs of publishing and selling the documents so that they are cost-recoverable. Members will receive a summary version free of charge. Council discussed some of the action consequent upon the receipt of the finalised competencies and resolved to develop an infrastructure for the implementation, further development, review, education and accreditation of assessors.
Logo: The Council selected the design by Brian Ling and asked that Christine Aickin discuss further possible layouts on stationery with the designer. Mission Statement wording: As part of the development of the design it was resolved that the first use of the word "people" be deleted from the Mission Statement. The Society's Mission Statement would now read, "Promoting systems, spaces and designs for people."
Display Panel: Michael Michaliades reported that display posters were finished the previous evening and that he had physically brought them to the Conference for mounting on the ESA stand at the Conference's exhibition. A vote of thanks was extended to the Victorian sub-committee for its important contribution to the Society's publicity.
2000 Conference: New South Wales: The NSW Branch had been advised that 2000 will be a poor year in which to hold an Annual Conference in Sydney. It was agreed that enquiries be made of New Zealand to determine whether the Australian Annual Conference could be held in conjunction with that of the New Zealand Ergonomics Society and that NSW be asked to conduct the 2001 Annual Conference.
Welcoming Package: The letter from the Victorian Secretary and the compiled material were tabled. It was agreed to distribute copies of the material and in order to give greater attention to the detail, to list the item on the next Council agenda. The members of the Victorian sub-committee were thanked with acclamation.
Career Nights: The letter from the Victorian Secretary and the compiled material were tabled. It was agreed to distribute copies of the material and in order to give greater attention to the detail, to list the item on the next Council agenda. The members of the Victorian sub-committee were thanked with acclamation.
Financial Situation: The Treasurer presented a series of financial tables and spoke to them. He then proposed several options for the Council's consideration and a number of decisions acting on the report were taken. Membership Survey: An analysis of the responses provided by Members as part of the Membership renewal exercise, was considered. It was resolved that the Survey results be published in the next issue of Ergonomics Australia and that appropriate items arising from the Survey be listed in the agenda of future Council and Executive meetings as appropriate.
Membership Directory: It was resolved that an insert be added to an early 1998 edition of Ergonomics Australia as a single sheet or sheets on which are printed names of new Councillors and Branch contact details and that the next full Directory be published early in 1999.
PAB Recertification Procedures: The PAB Chairperson asked the Council to consider an appeal mechanism for CPEs who were not successful in their application for recertification and to recommend those procedures to the Membership (since a change of PAB Rules is required to be passed by a General Meeting of the Society).
Voicemail: Michael Michaliades advised that Victoria had installed an answering machine that can be accessed from anywhere and through which enquirers can request assistance on ergonomics matters. The cost to the Society is $120 pa. A set of Guidelines has been developed but the Branch is still determining some of the ramifications.Ê
Federal Secretariat Contact Details
Ergonomics Society of Australia Inc Tel:+61 (02) 6242
1951
Canberra Business Centre Fax: +61 (02) 6241 2554
Bradfield Street
Downer. ACT 2602 email: esa@ozemail.com.au
AUSTRALIA
ESA Web pages -
http://www.curtin.edu.au/society/esa/home.htm
Business Hours:
9-1 Monday to Thursday
Executive Officer: Ian Mitchell
Administrative Secretary: Margot Lynch
When I was inducted as President, I came to the role with mixed feelings about the wisdom of accepting office and with some reservations as to the task ahead. The fears were groundless as I found the Society was in excellent order because my predecessor and her hard-working Executive had left me a legacy of excellence in performance and assets. May I pay a tribute to Verna Blewett and her team for the terrific work that preceded our inauguration.
It is not possible to detail all of the interesting tasks in which we have been engaged over the year but among the most noteworthy I am happy to report the following -
Competencies Project: We owe a debt of gratitude to Jim Carmichael and his Standing Committee for bringing this to fruition at this Annual General Meeting. I would think that this is the most important activity of the Society in years and will serve as a benchmark on which ergonomics in Australia and the Society in particular will benefit for years to come. It will serve to increase the standard of ergonomics and its practice throughout the country OH&S Auditors' Certification: Allied to the Competencies Project, the Society has been involved during the year in working out a process by which some of our Members can register their skills as OH&S Auditors. The job is not complete but over the next year or so, you will hear more of this program.
CHISIG: Bringing about a closer relationship with CHISIG continues to be painstaking but productive. Roger Hall, the Chairperson of CHISIG and a distinguished member of ESA, has maintained close contact with us and is presently negotiating a means whereby their administrative services can tie in with those of the Society. We welcome the progress that has been made and look forward positively to a strengthening of the relationship.
Role of SIGs: At the time of my assuming office, the role and value of SIGs was under question. My predecessor tried valiantly to revive a number of flagging SIGs but in the end it was necessary to cancel their listing for lack of activity and interest. It is still important for the Society to have a more concentrated form of interaction than Membership itself and we will pursue how this can be done but, for the time being, it has become clear that the reasons for which SIGs were established no longer exist and several SIGs have concluded their useful lives.
Appeal Mechanism: During the year we were faced with a couple of quite different situations where the Society has had to make a show of promoting or maintaining ergonomic standards. Accordingly a process has begun in which the PAB is working on a more formal process for people who feel aggrieved and may wish to appeal to the Society for assistance.
Assistance with SEAES: We have been active in providing a draft Constitution for the South East Asian Ergonomic Society. Also, thanks to help from the Western Australian Branch I was able to take part in the recent SEAES Conference in Kuala Lumpur. I have been elected to the Council of SEAES for the next 3 years and our aim is to help SEAES to lift its profile and professionalism.
Queensland Annual Conference: While we are grateful to the Queensland Branch members who have worked hard on the Organising Committee for this Annual Conference, you will be aware that in the early stages there were some substantial administrative and financial difficulties which the Executive and Council were called upon to either adjudicate or resolve. It took a good deal of time and energy, and not a little capital but on the positive side the highlighting of the problems enabled us to refine the Conference Guidelines.
Changes to the PAB Rules (being placed before the 1997 AGM): The AGM Agenda has an item proposing certain changes to the Rules by which the PAB operates. While these are relatively innocuous, the work behind them represents much more time than is indicated. The Constitution requires that PAB Rule changes come before an AGM or a meeting of Members.
IEA Presidency: Margaret Bullock was nominated by us as the President of IEA but was "pipped at the post" in the final election. She did remarkably well to come within a whisker of winning and we believe that were it not for the strong views held by some patri-dominated societies, we may have seen Margaret as our international President.
Finance: The Treasurer will speak to the detail of the year's figures and audit but as President I must add a brief comment especially in view of the uninformed criticism which accuses us of mismanagement. In fact, our financial problems over the previous year have in large part arisen from three factors: the change of membership year to coincide with the financial year; the unexpected costs of the Competencies Project, which were budgeted for one year only but continued (an enlarged amount) into the second year, and the large amount required to launch this Queensland Conference. In other words, we have remained basically within the normal income and expenditure but for the extra-ordinary items I have noted, at least two of which arose from matters beyond our control.
Finally may I extend sincere thanks to my colleagues on the Executive, the members of Council, the staff, the Branch office-holders and many others too numerous to list, for their contribution to the work of the Society. Without their co-operation and skills, we would have been much poorer.
Ian Gibson
President
In his Report to Members, the President has outlined some of the important policy initiatives the Executive took during 1997. To supplement his report, therefore, I propose to list the administrative type decisions and activities which the Council undertook. Guidelines for the appointment of Members to external bodies: During the year we were challenged with the need to set down some criteria for the appointment of ESA Members to a number of organisations which from time-to-time invite the Society to nominate representatives. They include advisory bodies, standards' committees, task forces, awards groups and so on. Because of the constraints of geography, time and qualifications, it is not always possible to ensure that all Members have an equal opportunity to be nominated. However, we have at least set principles which will give as many as possible the chance of serving.
Copyright of Conference Papers: As part of the professionalisation of the Society, the Executive has been concerned for a while to increase the profile of the Annual Conference and have the most competent presenters as are available. As part of this process, we are copyrighting those papers that are delivered at the Conference and that are subsequently published in the Proceedings. A form of Copyright was agreed at a recent Council meeting.
Councillor's Kit: We have prepared an Introductory "package" which will assist new Councillors learn of the background and on-going work of the Council so that they are not hit afresh with unknown material. The "package" will also help the Councillors report back to their Branches. It is great to see that Branches have scheduled their AGMs before the Annual Conference so that any newly elected Councillors can attend the face-to-face Council meeting at the conference on their first occasion.
Display Panel: A set of Display Panels has been constructed and makes its first appearance at the '97 Conference in the sponsorship and exhibition area. We must thank the Victorian Branch for its hard work and input to it. May I encourage Branches to use the material (and to contribute to its expansion).
Logo: The Council has just decided on a new logo for the Society. The previous logo served us well but there have been several strident critics in recent times and we have sought to find a more modern design. Our thanks go to Jonathon Talbot of NSW and his team. Any design will attract both praise and criticism. Nonetheless, I am confident that the new logo will lift our profile, show us as a distinctive and professional body and be a design to which we can take us into the next century.
Ron Cumming Memorial Medal criteria: We are delighted that Roger Hall accepted the invitation to be this year's Ron Cumming Memorial Lecturer. To ensure objectivity in finding future Lecturers, we have devised a set of criteria that will help the Executives of the day to find appropriate quality presenters and specialists.
Membership Directory: By now you should have received the new improved Membership Directory. It carries important information not previously published and is a further service for Members.
Professional Indemnity Insurance: Late this year we were able to have the brokers reduce the premium for our PII policy. We are grateful to those members who have supported us and hope that others will join the policy so that an even better deal can be obtained.
Thanks: I would like to thank "Il Presidente" Ian Gibson and Rodney Powell as Treasurer for their support and encouragement over the last year. It has been a great year and we are looking forward to an exciting 1998.
Jenni Miller
General Secretary
Council Meeting
The IEA Council met in Tampere, Finland, in June, in association with the Triennial Congress, IEA '97. Margaret Bullock represented the ESA.
Election of IEA officers
President: Dr Ian Noy Canada
Secretary General: Prof Waldemar Karwowski USA
Treasurer: Dr Kazutaka Kogi Japan
Education and Training
Guidelines developed for a number of items relevant to quality assurance were developed by the Education and Training Committee and, with some modification, were endorsed by the Council.
These include:
IEA minimum criteria for certification of the ergonomist
IEA criteria for the endorsement of a certifying body
IEA core competencies for the practising ergonomist
Basic criteria for the accreditation of an ergonomics educational program.
Further discussion of the guidelines took place during the Congress sessions.
The IEA has now circulated these guidelines to all Federated Societies for their reference and comment. The EDA holds a copy.
It is intended that where requested to do so, the IEA will provide a system of review of processes of certification applied by individual Societies and of the structure and operation of the certifying bodies. Provided that the certification process and the certifying body meet the relevant IEA minimum criteria outlined, IEA endorsement will be recommended. Both endorsement procedures are intended to encourage the application of international standards.
The IEA outline of core competencies has been distributed as a 'living document', with the expectation that it will be used immediately, but that the outline will evolve with the discipline and practice of ervonomics and as Federated Societies make further comment.
Each Federated Society has been asked to update its entry in the Directory of Ergonomics Education Programs, which is now accessible via the IEA Home-page. Any updated material on educational programs which aware a qualification in ergonomics must first be endorsed by the relevant national Society before electronic transfer to the Directory. A new feature of this arrangement is that if details of a particular program are available (such as curricula or application forms for enrolment), a link with the IEA home page may be made available.
Perhaps the ESA could nominate a sub-committee to review its Directory entry and prepare up to date information about the Australian tertiary level courses awarding ergonomics qualifications.
Prizes
A new prize has been established by the Liberty Mutual Group in collaboration with the IEA. The annual prize of $US5,000 will be awarded for an original contribution leading to a better understanding of avoiding, or mitigating occupational accidents and injuries, or in rehabilitation and return to work of an injured worker. Applicants will submit an original report of laboratory, field or intervention research within the field of ergonomics and occupational safety and health. In addition, each three years, a prize of $US15,000 will be awarded to the most significant of the three reports from the previous three years.
Each Society will be sent a package containing a News release, background material on IEA and Liberty Mutual and general information about the prize, in the form of questions and answers.
The first prize will be awarded in Capetown, South Africa, at the conference of the Southern African Ergonomics Society, in September, 1998. Submission deadlines will be April, 1998.
The ESA is encouraged to make this prize well known to its members and to students who may be undertaking major research relevant to the prize.
Technical Group activity: During 1994-97, IEA sponsored 17 conferences around the world, many of which were held in industrially developing countries.
The IEA Technical Groups helped by organising paper sessions for the IEA Congress and about half of the papers presented at the IEA Congress in Tampere were sponsored by Technical Groups.
Two new Technical Groups were formed recently on an initiative of the French scientific community: Hospital ergonomics, chaired by F Daniellou, and Work Psycho-dynamics, chaired by Brun. Membership lists and action plans are still being developed and ESA members who have an interest are invited to contact the Secretary General. If the ESA has an interest in having its members participate in these Technical Groups, it would be appropriate for it to nominate an ESA member to this group.
The IEA Press has been established to publish IEA sponsored Conferences Proceedings, materials generated by Technical Committees of the Science and Technology Committee, and other IEA Reports and material. The IEA Press does not engage in any commercial printing activities or publishing of projects which require significant investment of IEA funds.
The IEA Journal of Ergonomics and Human Factors: Research and Applications will appear as a refereed Web Journal, to make information available at minimum cost. The WWW site is maintained by Prof M Mattila at Tempere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland. Available to subscribers who pay a small subscription fee, this Journal will be free to members of IEA Federated Societies within industrially developing countries. The first issue is planned for publication in the second part of 1997.
New membership: The Turkish Ergonomics Society has been accepted for Federated Membership of the IEA.
Internet activities:
Now that the IEA Web page is well established, each Federated Society is being asked to connect itself to the page. This would then become the most comprehensive Internet source of Ergonomics information available.
Home page on World Wide Web:
http://www.spd.louisville.edu/~ergonomics/iea.html
http://www.spd.louisville.edu/~ergonomics/international-ergonomics-association.html
Electronic communication tools for IEA
The COUNCIL and IEA WORLD discussion lists on the Internet are available:
COUNCIL, to facilitate communication between the IEA and Officers of the IEA Federated Societies;
IEA WORLD, to facilitate information exchange between IEA members and the ergonomics community world wide.
In order to subscribe to the IEA WORLD, send a request message as follows:
<send to> LISTERV@ULKYVM.LOUISVILLE.EDU
<subject> (leave the subject line blank)
SUBIEA WORLD First-name Last-name
The IEA congratulated the ESA on its successful introduction of the CybErg Conference and supported the continuation of this initiative on a triennial basis.
Margaret I Bullock
ESA representative to the IEA
CHISIG's Chairman Roger Hall attended the face-to-face Council meeting held in Melbourne 10-11 May to discuss CHISIG's "relationship" with the Ergonomics Society of Australia Inc (ESA) and more generally the role that SIGs should play within ESA. At this meeting it was resolved by the Council not to force non-ESA members of CHISIG to become Affiliates of ESA. It was noted that both the CHISIG Chairman and the ESA Council felt that there was a lot to be gained by both parties in working closer together, after all CHISIG is a legally constituted SIG of ESA.
A written Report was submitted to the ESA Council tele-conference of 22 September following CHISIG's 1997 AGM held during the INTERACT 97 conference in Sydney in July. This report confirmed the cordial relationship between CHISIG and ESA and foreshadowed plans by CHISIG to negotiate with the ESA Secretariat to provide CHISIG with appropriate services which will facilitate CHISIG's administration and its financial obligations to ESA.
Committee
At the 1997 CHISIG AGM the current Executive were re-elected to office and three new committee members were also elected - all members will remain on the committee until the 1998 AGM in Adelaide next November. The Committee which includes three ESA members, is as follows:
Roger R Hall Chairman
Gitte Lindgaard Secretary
Valerie Noble Treasurer
Sylvia Willie Membership Secretary
Helen Hasan Newsletter Editor
Elizabeth Grey, Fiona Meighan and Karyn Bamford Committee members
Objectives
Formal CHISIG Objectives have been in place since 1991. They were review at the 1997 AGM and although their intent was not changed, the wording was simplified. The CHISIG Objectives are:
1. To encourage and support HCI research and practice.
2. To promote excellence in research and application of HCI standards and principles.
3. To support development and application of design principles based on human needs, capabilities and limitations
4. To provide a forum for interaction between HCI research, training and industry
5. To communicate HCI issues and principles to the public
6. To encourage training and education in HCI analysis, design and evaluation
It can be seen from the Objectives that they are consistent with the Aim of ESA while focussing specifically on the area of human-computer interaction.
Membership
There are currently 86 fully paid up members of CHISIG. Membership is open to anyone and the annual subscription is currently $35 pa. CHISIG has active groups in Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and the Gold Coast. The new Committee plans to increase membership by organising more promotional and scientific activities.
Conferences
CHISIG Conferences are called OZCHI and are held in late November each year, except for this year when it was incorporated into INTERACT 97 which was held at Darling Harbour, Sydney in July. The first OZCHI was held in Sydney in 1991 but only after several years of seminars and workshops in Melbourne. OZCHI conferences enjoy an international reputation attracting numerous speakers and delegates from New Zealand, UK & Europe, USA and south-east Asia.
The 1998 OZCHI conference is to be held in Adelaide in late November next year and is chaired by Dr Jeremy Manton of DSTO, a former member of ESA.
David Caple the Chair of ESA 98 was formally written to CHISIG inviting its participation by way of papers, workshops, or other appropriate activity. The Chairman has indicated CHISIG's in-principle support and will seek expressions of interest from the membership of CHISIG.
While the holding of ESA and OZCHI conferences back-to-back has been seen as a worthwhile venture it has not been a practical proposition. However in the year 2000, ESA is having its conference in Sydney and this may be the first suitable year in which to realise the joint venture. The CHISIG Chairman is a member of the ESA 2000 conference Committee and is working with the Committee to plan a back-to-back or perhaps concurrent conferences where delegates to either conference can attend any session (in parallel) of the other.
Publications
CHISIG issues an 8-12 page Newsletter 4 times a year. It produces Proceedings of its OZCHI conferences which in 1995 included a CD ROM version. CHISIG has agreed that the conference Proceedings should be published by the IEA Press, as is to be the case with ESA.
CHISIG has made a $1000 donation to the UNSW and UTS libraries for the purchase of books on human-computer interaction. In future it is likely that CHISIG will only be able to donate its conference Proceedings to libraries of Universities with hci courses. Perhaps ESA could follow CHISIG's example as University libraries continue to have to cut subscriptions to serials such as annual conference proceedings.
Epilogue
Despite a couple of years of non-proactive leadership of CHISIG, the current Committee is actively endeavouring to raise both CHISIG's profile and its activities to a professional and worthwhile status. A sound administrative foundation is being established which will allow the Committee the time and resources to realise the Objectives of CHISIG.
Roger R Hall
Chairman CHISIG
Ergonomics Society of Australia Annual Conference
are available in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) at http://www.dtir.qld.gov.au/hs/ergo97/ergo97.htm
A replacement CD will be mailed to delegates and ESA members. PDF is a platform independent format which allows documents to be viewed and printed without the reader needing to have the application which created the original documents. A reader is required, which is available free from http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html and should also be provided on the CD This version should be a big improvement on the previous one, although some figures are still missing.
The Typing Injury FAQ is now maintained by Scott Wright, and has a new address, a new look, and is being updated regularly. Well worth a visit to http://www.tifaq.com/
From the introduction to the pages:
"The Typing Injury FAQ (frequently asked questions) is an educational site provided by the CTD ResourceNetwork - An association of individuals providing information to the RSI community. The TIFAQ contains a wide variety of information about repetitive strain injuries (RSI's), resources for dealing with these ailments, and a broad description of assistive products to reduce injury risk and symptoms. The TIFAQ is primarily targeted towards computer users at risk of injury, however health professionals, researchers, designers, resellers and manufacturers will find a wealth of information of interest. Many of the resources provided here also relate well to other work environments. Reading and following the links below will lead you to all kinds of valuable information, documents, and resources. (see About the TIFAQ for more background information.)
While you are exploring here, check out the TIFAQ's sister publication, The RSI Network newsletter that is also being used to distribute RSI-related information online and off. Its first publication under the CTDResource Network will be February 1998." see http://www.tifaq.com/rsinet/index.html
Editor:
Scott Wright - rsinet@tifaq.com
Assistant Editors:
Caroline Rose
Joan Lichterman
Archives of past newsletters are available at http://www.tifaq.com/rsinet/rsinet_archive.html
Abstracts of the 1996 & 1997 American Society of Biomechanics conference are available at http://www.orst.edu/dept/HHP/ASB/abstracts.html. Also at the same site, the text of a tutorial on "Biomechanical data collection and analysis" by Brian Davis (Cleveland Clinic) http://www.ccf.org/ri/bme/people/davis/isb/tutorial/contents.htm make interesting and provocative reading (that means I don't agree with everything he says, but recommend it anyway!).
Complete text of "Recognition of Auditory Sound Sources and Events" by Stephen McAdams from "Thinking in Sound: The Cognitive Psychology of Human Audition", Oxford University Press, Oxford 1993 may be found at http://mediatheque.ircam.fr/articles/textes/McAdams93a/. The introduction to the book is available at http://varese.ircam.fr/articles/textes/McAdams93b/index-e.html
The complete text of TIP, the official newsletter of the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology (SIOP) is available online at http://www.siop.org/
For example, see "From Both Sides Now: Organizational Learning", by Allan H. Church at http://www.siop.org/TIPOct97/CHURCH~1.HTM
Stephen Brewster, lecturer in HCI at Glasgow University in the UK, maintains a web page about Earcons (http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~stephen/). You can also find complete text of many of his publications (including his PhD thesis - Brewster, S.A. (1994) Providing a structured method for integrating non-speech audio into human-computer interfaces. PhD Thesis, University of York, UK, and more recent publications like Brewster, S.A. (1997). Using non-speech sound to overcome information overload. Displays, Special issue on multimedia displays, 17, pp 179-189. and Brewster, S.A. (1997). Using non-speech sound to provide navigation cues. Department of Computing Science Technical Report.) at http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~stephen/publications.HTML Dr. Brewster also provides his HCI lecture notes in PDF (http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~stephen/Lectures/LectureCourses.HTML)
Complete, if short, papers from the Work With Display Units '97 conference in Tokyo are available at http://tmc03.human.waseda.ac.jp/~wwdu97/prc.html
All 50 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations are on an updated CD-ROM featuring
5,000 in-line graphics, PDF (page-for-page) format, and instant
search/retrieval. See http://www.env-sol.com for more information
Abstracts of ispo97, the Annual Scientific Meeting of ISPO Australia
(International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics, Australian National
Member Society) are available at http://www.latrobe.edu.au/www/ncpo/ispo/
300 word abstracts of proposed papers, workshops, seminars, and posters are due Friday March 27, 1998. For more information contact ESA National Conference Secretariat, Conference Plus, Level 10, 459 Lt Collins St., Melbourne, Australia 3000. Ph. +61 3 9602 3073; Fx +61 3 9642 5152 or email esa@ozemail.com.au.
Intending contributors are invited to contact the editor to discuss potential submissions.
All enquiries or feedback should be addressed to the editor, Robin Burgess-Limerick PhD.
Email: robin@hms.uq.edu.au
These pages are hosted by the Department of Human Movement Studies, The University of Queensland, AUSTRALIA