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Applied psychology is the use of psychological methods and findings of scientific psychology to solve practical problems of human and animal behavior and experience. Educational and organizational psychology, business management, law, health, product design, ergonomics, behavioural psychology, psychology of motivation, psychoanalysis, neuropsychology, psychiatry and mental health are just a few of the areas that have been influenced by the application of psychological principles and scientific findings. Some of the areas of applied psychology include counseling psychology, industrial and organizational psychology, engineering psychology, occupational health psychology, legal psychology, school psychology, sports psychology, community psychology, neuropsychology, medical psychology and clinical psychology, evolutionary psychology, human factors, forensic psychology and traffic psychology. In addition, a number of specialized areas in the general area of psychology have applied branches. However, the lines between sub-branch specializations and major applied psychology categories are often mixed or in some cases blurred. For example, a human factors psychologist might use a cognitive psychology theory. This could be described as human factor psychology or as applied cognitive psychology. When applied psychology is used in the treatment of behavioral disorders there are many experimental approaches to try and treat an individual. This type of psychology can be found in many of the subbranches in other fields of psychology.
Occupational hygiene is the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, control, and confirmation (ARECC) of protection from risks associated with exposures to hazards in, or arising from, the workplace that may result in injury, illness, impairment, or affect the well-being of workers and members of the community. These hazards or stressors are typically divided into the categories biological, chemical, physical, ergonomic and psychosocial. The risk of a health effect from a given stressor is a function of the hazard multiplied by the exposure to the individual or group. For chemicals, the hazard can be understood by the dose response profile most often based on toxicological studies or models. Occupational hygienists work closely with toxicologists for understanding chemical hazards, physicists for physical hazards, and physicians and microbiologists for biological hazards. Environmental and occupational hygienists are considered experts in exposure science and exposure risk management. Depending on an individual's type of job, a hygienist will apply their exposure science expertise for the protection of workers, consumers and/or communities.
Safety culture is the element of organizational culture which is concerned with the maintenance of safety and compliance with safety standards. It is informed by the organization's leadership and the beliefs, perceptions and values that employees share in relation to risks within the organization, workplace or community. Safety culture has been described in a variety of ways: notably, the National Academies of Science and the Association of Land Grant and Public Universities have published summaries on this topic in 2014 and 2016.
Workplace wellness, also known as corporate wellbeing outside the United States, is a broad term used to describe activities, programs, and/or organizational policies designed to support healthy behavior in the workplace. This often involves health education, medical screenings, weight management programs, and onsite fitness programs or facilities. It can also include flex-time for exercise, providing onsite kitchen and eating areas, offering healthy food options in vending machines, holding "walk and talk" meetings, and offering financial and other incentives for participation.
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are injuries or pain in the human musculoskeletal system, including the joints, ligaments, muscles, nerves, tendons, and structures that support limbs, neck and back. MSDs can arise from a sudden exertion, or they can arise from making the same motions repeatedly, or from repeated exposure to force, vibration, or awkward posture. Injuries and pain in the musculoskeletal system caused by acute traumatic events like a car accident or fall are not considered musculoskeletal disorders. MSDs can affect many different parts of the body including upper and lower back, neck, shoulders and extremities. Examples of MSDs include carpal tunnel syndrome, epicondylitis, tendinitis, back pain, tension neck syndrome, and hand-arm vibration syndrome.
Manual handling of loads (MHL) or manual material handling (MMH) involves the use of the human body to lift, lower, carry or transfer loads. The average person is exposed to manual lifting of loads in the work place, in recreational atmospheres, and even in the home. To properly protect one from injuring themselves, it can help to understand general body mechanics.
A nail salon or nail bar is a specialty beauty salon establishment that primarily offers nail care services such as manicures, pedicures, and nail enhancements. Often, nail salons also offer skin care services. Manicures are also offered by general beauty salons, spas, and hotels. People who work at nail salons are usually called nail technicians, manicurists, or nailists.
The Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance is a German institute located in Sankt Augustin near Bonn and is a main department of the German Social Accident Insurance. Belonging to the Statutory Accident Insurance means that IFA is a non-profit institution.
Systems psychology is a branch of both theoretical psychology and applied psychology that studies human behaviour and experience as complex systems. It is inspired by systems theory and systems thinking, and based on the theoretical work of Roger Barker, Gregory Bateson, Humberto Maturana and others. Groups and individuals are considered as systems in homeostasis. Alternative terms here are "systemic psychology", "systems behavior", and "systems-based psychology".
Occupational health psychology (OHP) is an interdisciplinary area of psychology that is concerned with the health and safety of workers. OHP addresses a number of major topic areas including the impact of occupational stressors on physical and mental health, the impact of involuntary unemployment on physical and mental health, work-family balance, workplace violence and other forms of mistreatment, psychosocial workplace factors that affect accident risk and safety, and interventions designed to improve and/or protect worker health. Although OHP emerged from two distinct disciplines within applied psychology, namely, health psychology and industrial and organizational psychology, for a long time the psychology establishment, including leaders of industrial/organizational psychology, rarely dealt with occupational stress and employee health, creating a need for the emergence of OHP. OHP has also been informed by other disciplines, including occupational medicine, sociology, industrial engineering, and economics, as well as preventive medicine and public health. OHP is thus concerned with the relationship of psychosocial workplace factors to the development, maintenance, and promotion of workers' health and that of their families. The World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization estimate that exposure to long working hours causes an estimated 745,000 workers to die from ischemic heart disease and stroke in 2016, mediated by occupational stress.
Prevention through design (PtD), also called safety by design usually in Europe, is the concept of applying methods to minimize occupational hazards early in the design process, with an emphasis on optimizing employee health and safety throughout the life cycle of materials and processes. It is a concept and movement that encourages construction or product designers to "design out" health and safety risks during design development. The process also encourages the various stakeholders within a construction project to be collaborative and share the responsibilities of workers' safety evenly. The concept supports the view that along with quality, programme and cost; safety is determined during the design stage. It increases the cost-effectiveness of enhancements to occupational safety and health.
Workplace health promotion is the combined efforts of employers, employees, and society to improve the mental and physical health and well-being of people at work. The term workplace health promotion denotes a comprehensive analysis and design of human and organizational work levels with the strategic aim of developing and improving health resources in an enterprise. The World Health Organization has prioritized the workplace as a setting for health promotion because of the large potential audience and influence on all spheres of a person's life. The Luxembourg Declaration provides that health and well-being of employees at work can be achieved through a combination of:
Anthony D. Andre is a researcher, practitioner, and academic in the fields of human factors, ergonomics, usability and product design. He is the founding principal of Interface Analysis Associates, an international human factors and ergonomics consultancy. Andre pioneered the behavioral approach to ergonomics which included behavior modification and computer skill development as its basis, in direct opposition to common product-based approaches. He is a founding member and adjunct professor of the HF/E Graduate Program at San Jose State University. He founded the International Conference on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care, co-created the Ergo-X conference, managed the ergonomic content for several of the annual California Association of Rehabilitation and Re-employment Professionals (CARRP) conferences, and recently produced, hosted, and presented a COVID-19 ergonomics virtual summit on how to work/school from home more safely and comfortably. He has served as president of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Andre is a Certified Professional Ergonomist (CPE), recognized by the Board of Certification of Professional Ergonomists (BCPE).
Occupational safety and health (OSH) or occupational health and safety (OHS) is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work. OSH is related to the fields of occupational medicine and occupational hygiene and aligns with workplace health promotion initiatives. OSH also protects all the general public who may be affected by the occupational environment.
Ergonomics, also known as human factors or human factors engineering (HFE), is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Primary goals of human factors engineering are to reduce human error, increase productivity and system availability, and enhance safety, health and comfort with a specific focus on the interaction between the human and equipment.
Total Worker Health is a trademarked strategy defined as policies, programs, and practices that integrate protection from work-related safety and health hazards with promotion of injury and illness prevention efforts to advance worker well-being. It was conceived and is funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Total Worker Health is tested and developed in six Centers of Excellence for Total Worker Health in the United States.
Ergonomic hazards are physical conditions that may pose a risk of injury to the musculoskeletal system due to poor ergonomics. These hazards include awkward or static postures, high forces, repetitive motion, or short intervals between activities. The risk of injury is often magnified when multiple factors are present.
Engineering controls are strategies designed to protect workers from hazardous conditions by placing a barrier between the worker and the hazard or by removing a hazardous substance through air ventilation. Engineering controls involve a physical change to the workplace itself, rather than relying on workers' behavior or requiring workers to wear protective clothing.
Manual material handling (MMH) work contributes to a large percentage of the over half a million cases of musculoskeletal disorders reported annually in the United States. Musculoskeletal disorders often involve strains and sprains to the lower back, shoulders, and upper limbs. They can result in protracted pain, disability, medical treatment, and financial stress for those afflicted with them, and employers often fi nd themselves paying the bill, either directly or through workers’ compensation insurance, at the same time they must cope with the loss of the full capacity of their workers.
The impact of artificial intelligence on workers includes both applications to improve worker safety and health, and potential hazards that must be controlled.
References
- ↑ Cole, D., Theberge, N., Granzow, K., Frazer, M., Laing, A., Wells, R., & Norman, R. Participatory process in organizational interventions for injury prevention. Proceedings of the Fifth interdisciplinary conference on occupational stress and health.
- ↑ de Looze, M. P., Urlings, I. J. M., Vink, P., van Rhijn, J. W., Miedema, M. C., Bronkhorst, R. E., & van der Grinten, M. P. (2001). Towards successful physical stress reducing products: an evaluation of seven cases. Applied Ergonomics, 32, 525-534.
- 1 2 Granzow, K., Theberge, N., Cole, D., Frazer, M., Laing, A., & Wells, R. (2002) Negotiating workplace participation: Notes on a collaborative effort among labour, management and university researches to implement a participatory ergonomics process. Proceedings of the Canadian Anthropology and Sociology Association.
- 1 2 Nagamachi, M. (1995). "Requisites and practices of participatory ergonomics". International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics. 15 (5): 371–377. doi:10.1016/0169-8141(94)00082-E.
- 1 2 3 St-Vincent, M., Chicoine, D., & Simoneau, S. (1998). Les Groupes Ergo: Un outil pour prévenir les LATR. St-Leonard, Quebec: Institut de recherche en sante et en securite du travail du Quebec.
- 1 2 Theberge, N., Granzow, K., Cole, D., Laing, A., & Ergonomic Intervention Evaluation Research Group (2004). Negotiating participation: Understanding the 'how' in an ergonomic change team. Applied Ergonomics.
- 1 2 3 Wilson, J. R. (1995). Ergonomics and Participation. In J.R.Wilson & E. N. Cortlett (Eds.), Evaluation of Human Work: A practical ergonomics methodology (Second ed., pp. 1071-1096). London: Taylor & Francis.
- ↑ Haines, H.; Wilson, J. R.; Vink, P.; Koningsveld, E. (2002). "Validating a framework for participatory ergonomics (the PEF)". Ergonomics. 45 (4): 309–327. doi:10.1080/00140130210123516. PMID 12028727. S2CID 32227865.
- 1 2 Kuorinka, I.; Patry, L. (1995). "Participation as a means of promoting occupational health. International Journal of Industrial". Ergonomics. 15 (5): 365–370. doi:10.1016/0169-8141(94)00083-F.
- ↑ Wells, R., Norman, R., Frazer, M., Laing, A., Cole, D., & Kerr, M. (2003) Participative Ergonomic Blueprint. (http://www.iwh.on.ca/system/files/documents/pe_blueprint_2003.pdf)
- 1 2 Dixon, S. M., Theberge, N., & Cole, D. (2005) The ergonomist has left the building: Sustaining a participatory ergonomic program. Proceedings of the Association of Canadian Ergonomists Annual Meeting - Charting the Human Factor.
