QUO-VADIS,-ERGONOMIA

Ergonomics is now becoming involved in questions of social planning and social strategy that have far-reaching consequences. Some of the decisions we make affect not only our own societies, but other societies as well, and the consequences of decisions made now may extend beyond our individual lifetimes. Examples are drawn from two quite different areas of application—safety and office automation—to illustrate the wide ranging social consequences of ergonomic decisions. The involvement of ergonomics in these broad questions is healthy, but it brings with it greatly increased responsibilities. Among other things, ergonomics needs to be more concerned with cost-benefit ratios, and with a much better data base from which to work. © 1979 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.