Definition of Ergonomics.

According to the International Ergonomics Association, the definition of ergonomics is:

Ergonomics
Ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the
understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the
profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to
optimize human well-being and overall system performance.
In theory ergonomics can encompass many things, but the reality is that it often
focuses on the improvement of comfort and efficiency.

The word ergonomics comes from the Greek word “ergon” which means work and
“nomos” which means laws. It’s essentially the “laws of work” or “science of work”.
Good ergonomic design removes incompatibilities between the work and the worker and
creates the optimal work environment.
Ergonomics draws on many disciplines to optimize the interaction between the work
environment and the worker.

Domains of Ergonomics.

Ergonomics Domains of Specialization

According to the International Ergonomics Association, there are three broad domains of

ergonomics: physical, cognitive, and organizational.

Physical Ergonomics
Physical ergonomics is concerned with human anatomical, anthropometric, physiological
and biomechanical characteristics as they relate to physical activity.
This is the ergonomics domain we are most concerned with in the workplace, and most of the
content on this site is very much focused on workplace ergonomics.

Workplace Ergonomics
The science of fitting workplace conditions and job demands to the
capabilities of the working population. Ergonomics is an approach or solution to
 deal with a number of problems—among them are work-related musculoskeletal
disorders.
At its core, workplace ergonomics is really about building a better workplace. When jobs
are designed to match the capabilities of people, it results in better work being produced and a
better experience for the person doing it.
Through that lens, ergonomics creates value on several fronts. It’s good for your people
and good for your business.
The ergonomics improvement process systematically identifies ergonomic hazards and
puts in place engineering and administrative control measures to quantifiably reduce risk
factors.
 
Cognitive Ergonomics
Cognitive ergonomics is concerned with mental processes, such as perception, memory,
reasoning, and motor response, as they affect interactions among humans and other elements
of a system.

Relevant topics
 mental workload
 decision-making
 skilled performance
 human-computer interaction
 human reliability
 work stress
 training as these may relate to human-system design
 
Organizational Ergonomics
Organizational ergonomics is concerned with the optimization of sociotechnical systems,
including their organizational structures, policies, and processes.
Relevant topics
 communication
 crew resource management
 work design
 design of working times
  teamwork
 participatory design
 community ergonomics
 cooperative work
 new work paradigms
 virtual organizations
 telework
 quality management

Benefits of Ergonomics.

Benefits of a Workplace Ergonomics Process

Benefits of Ergonomics
 Lower costs
 Higher productivity
 Better product quality
 Improved employee engagement
 Better safety culture

Here are five of the proven benefits of a strong workplace ergonomics process backed
by the results of the Washington State DLI study:

1. Ergonomics reduces costs.

By systematically reducing ergonomic risk factors, you can prevent costly MSDs. With
approximately 1 out of every 3 in workers compensation costs attributed to MSDs, this
represents an opportunity for significant cost savings. Also, don’t forget that indirect costs can
be up to twenty times the direct cost of an injury.
 59% average reduction of Musculoskeletal Disorders
 65% average reduction in incidence rate
 75% reduction in lost workdays
 53% reduction in restricted days
 68% reduction in worker’s compensation costs
 39% reduction in cost per claim
 43% decrease in labor costs
2. Ergonomics improves productivity.
The best ergonomic solutions will often improve productivity. By designing a job to allow for
good posture, less exertion, fewer motions and better heights and reaches, the workstation
becomes more efficient.
 25% increase in productivity

3. Ergonomics improves quality.

Poor ergonomics leads to frustrated and fatigued workers that don’t do their best work.
When the job task is too physically taxing on the worker, they may not perform their job like they
were trained. For example, an employee might not fasten a screw tight enough due to a high
force requirement which could create a product quality issue.
 67% average reduction in scrap/errors

4. Ergonomics improves employee engagement.

Employees notice when the company is putting forth their best efforts to ensure their health
and safety. If an employee does not experience fatigue and discomfort during their workday, it
can reduce turnover, decrease absenteeism, improve morale and increase employee
involvement.
 48% average reduction in employee turnover
 58% average reduction in employee absenteeism

5. Ergonomics creates a better safety culture.

Ergonomics shows your company’s commitment to safety and health as a core value.
The cumulative effect of the previous four benefits of ergonomics is a stronger safety culture for
your company. Healthy employees are your most valuable asset; creating and fostering the
safety & health culture at your company will lead to better human performance for your
organization.

5. Ergonomic Process
Ergonomics Process
 Assess Risk: Conducting an ergonomic assessment is a foundational element of the
ergonomics process. Your ergonomic improvement efforts will never get off the ground
 without being able to effectively assess jobs in your workplace for musculoskeletal disorder
(MSD) risk factors.
 Plan Improvements: The core goal of the ergonomics process is to make changes to your
workplace that reduce risk. Making changes at scale requires a significant planning effort
that includes prioritizing jobs to be improved, identifying effective improvement ideas, and
cost-justifying the improvement projects.
 Measure Progress: Measurement is an important component of any successful
continuous improvement process. High performing ergonomics programs are constantly
measured using both leading and lagging indicators.
 Scale Solutions: By establishing a common set of tools to train your workforce, assess
risk, plan improvements, measure progress, and design new work processes, you’ll be able
to scale ergonomics best practices throughout your organization.

The Role of facilities in the Hospitality Industry.

They play a major role in guest satisfaction by providing an appealing visual

environment. Also by providing guests comfort with heating an AC. They also provide basic
supplies like clean water for bathing or relaxing in spas, or swimming. Facilities protect guests
from the elements and keep them safe as well as their possessions.
 Facilities allow a hospitality operation to function by interconnecting systems and
equipment.
 Facilities help to define the industry and provide identity in the marketplace.
 Provide owners with a return on investment
 Play a key role in the amount of revenue generated at the property

Costs associated with Hospitality Facilities.

Initial costs, Operation costs, and Renovation costs. The hospitality facilities manager is
responsible for operation and renovation. The most variable is operation because utility costs
are influenced by occupancy and weather. Maintenance costs are also varied due to occupancy
and will generally be saved to do until the hotel is not as busy.
Initial costs are those that are incurred during the design and construction process. They
can include any of the following:
 Planning, preliminary engineering, and project design
  Environmental impact report
 Project-related staff training
 Final engineering
 Land acquisition
 Construction costs, including improvements to existing facilities
 Equipment and vehicle purchases
 Equipment required for project operation (for example, wireless transponders for
electronic toll collection)
 Decommissioning costs for facilities that are no longer needed

Operating costs are associated with the maintenance and administration of a business on
a day-to-day basis. Operating costs include direct costs of goods sold (COGS) and
other operating expenses—often called selling, general, and administrative (SG&A)—which
includes rent, payroll, and other overhead costs, as well as raw materials and maintenance
expenses. Operating costs exclude non-operating expenses related to financing such as
interest, investments, or foreign currency translation.

The operating cost is deducted from revenue to arrive at operating income and is reflected

on a company’s income statement.

Operating Costs Components

While operating costs generally do not include capital outlays, they can include many
components of operating expenses including:

 Accounting and legal fees

 Bank charges
 Sales and marketing costs
 Travel expenses 
 Entertainment costs
 Non-capitalized research and development expenses
 Office supply costs
 Rent
 Repair and maintenance costs
 Utility expenses
  Salary and wage expenses

Renovation Expenses means the costs and expenses incurred to renovate a Property prior
to becoming a Stabilized Property or incurred to renovate a Carry-Over Property. For the
avoidance of doubt, Renovation Expenses do not include any fees, costs or expenses
associated with any ongoing recurring repairs or maintenance to any Property.

10. Responsibilities of the Facility Department.

Facility management (FM) is a profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to
ensure functionality, comfort, safety and efficiency of the built environment by integrating
people, place, process and technology.

Professional FM as an interdisciplinary business function has the objective of coordinate

demand and supply of facilities and services within public and private organizations. The term
“Facility” (pl. facilities) means something that is built, installed or established to serve a
purpose, which, in general, is every “tangible asset that supports an organization”. Examples
are real estate property, buildings, technical infrastructure, (HVAC), lighting, transportation, IT-
services, furniture, custodial, grounds maintenance and other user-specific equipment and
appliances.
But what is the importance of facilities management? To truly understand what a facility
manager does, what they’re responsible for, and what effect they have on a company, it’s best
to break down their scope of work. That means taking a closer look at the four main pillars of
facilities management: People, processes, the building, and technology.

Supporting people
The foremost objective of a facility manager is creating an accommodating work
environment for employees. This serves many broader goals, including attracting and retaining
top talent, improving efficiency and productivity, and creating a positive workplace culture.
Facility managers provide employee support in many ways, including:
 Coordinating desking arrangements
 Managing employee directories
 Facilitating moves and space utilization
 Handling emergency planning
 Facility managers serve as a bridge between the workplace and the employees working
within it. Whenever issues of accommodation, safety, or comfort arise, it’s up to the facility
manager to solve them.
This applies upward, as well. Facility managers are responsible for providing vital planning
data to the C-suite and determining the long-term approach to workplace optimization. Their
everyday interaction with the workplace sheds light on true costs and competitive advantages at
the employee level.

Establishing processes
What are the functions of facilities management without a process to govern them?
Establishing processes brings order to the workplace. Order creates a system of expectations,
which breeds organization that positively impacts the way people utilize the workplace. The
workplace runs on a multitude of processes, including:
 Submitting a work order request
 Reserving space within the facility
 Checking in guests and visitors
 Emergency action planning

Facility managers serve the dual role of identifying governance areas and adapting
processes to cover them. Whenever a new situation arises, it’s up to the facility manager to
create order from chaos and building a repeatable framework for handling that scenario again in
the future.
Developing processes is also where the scope of facility management expands its reach.
New processes may involve different departments, employees, assets, fixtures, and spaces—all
of which connect the many aspects of the business.

Facilities upkeep and improvement

As the name implies, facility management is largely rooted in facilities upkeep and
improvement of the physical building. It’s the most common answer when asked, “What does
facility management include?”
But this is also the most robust scope of expectations for facility managers. It involves
not only tending the building, but cultivating partnerships, future planning, and asset
management. Some examples of this broad range of responsibilities include:
 Finding and maintaining vendor contracts
  Repair, maintenance, and building improvement
 Workplace cleaning and décor
 On- and off-site property management
If it has to do with the physical building, it falls within the facilities manager’s realm. Facilities
are the second largest expense behind the workforce—it’s the job of a facility manager to turn
the workplace into a competitive advantage, instead of a cost center. It’s about ensuring
facilities meet the needs of the people using them.

Technology integration
More important than ever is the need for facilities managers to understand and use
technology. Workplace management systems aggregate data, which drives crucial decisions
about how to run the business and shape the workplace. Identifying and implementing the right
technology is a chief responsibility of facility managers.
Integrating physical technology typically falls on the IT department. However, facilities
managers are the first and last word on how they’re selected, used, and leveraged. Some
examples of what this looks like in a modern setting include:
 Researching devices based on data collection needs
 Integrating devices into everyday facilities processes
 Determining the cost, ROI, and advantage of smart technologies
 Using aggregated data to better understand the workplace

Using an Integrated Workplace Management System, facility managers can collect and
analyze data from networked technologies to get insights about the workplace. This fuels better
decision-making on how to optimize the work environment for the people using it.
It’s important to note that not all office techs relies on data collection. Access control
systems support safety, while automation tech streamlines processes. And while there’s a data
component to any networked device or software, the true benefit of most techs is in its function.
It’s up to facility managers to understand and leverage this function for optimal ROI.

11. Facility Managers in Operations in the Hospitality Industry.

Facilities managers are responsible for the security, maintenance and services of work
facilities to ensure that they meet the needs of the organization and its employees.
What does a facilities manager do? Responsibilities can include:
 overseeing and agreeing contracts and providers for services including security, parking,
cleaning, catering, technology and so on

 supervising multi-disciplinary teams of staff including cleaning, maintenance, grounds

and security

 ensuring that basic facilities, such as water and heating, are well-maintained

 managing budgets and ensuring cost-effectiveness

 allocating and managing space between buildings

 ensuring that facilities meet government regulations and environmental, health and
security standards

 advising businesses on increasing energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness

 overseeing building projects, renovations or refurbishments

 helping businesses to relocate to new offices and to make decisions about leasing

 drafting reports and making written recommendations.

If they work for a construction company, they may also have some input into the design of a
new office building to ensure that facilities are able to be delivered in the most effective way.

While many facilities managers take on a varied range of responsibilities, it is possible to

specialize in ‘hard’ facilities management services or ‘soft’. Hard services includes anything to
do with the physical building, such as electrical systems, while soft is more people-related.

References:

Ergonomics 101: The Definition, Domains, and Applications of Ergonomics ([Link])

5 Proven Benefits of Ergonomics in the Workplace ([Link])

Operating Cost Definition ([Link])

Facilities manager: job description | TARGETjobs

The 4 Main and Important Functions of Facilities Management ([Link])