European J. Industrial Engineering, Vol. 8, No. 3, 2014 325 Copyright © 2014 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Avenues of entry: how industrial engineers and ergonomists access and influence human factors and ergonomics issues Cecilia Berlin* Division of Production Systems, Department of Product and Production Development, Chalmers University of Technology, Hörsalsvägen 7A, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden E-mail: cecilia.berlin@chalmers.se *Corresponding author W. Patrick Neumann Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St., Toronto, ON, M5B2K3, Canada E-mail: pneumann@ryerson.ca Nancy Theberge Departments of Kinesiology and Sociology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada E-mail: theberge@uwaterloo.ca Roland Örtengren Division of Production Systems, Department of Product and Production Development, Chalmers University of Technology, Hörsalsvägen 7A, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden E-mail: roland.ortengren@chalmers.se Abstract: This study compares how Canadian industrial engineers (IEs) and ergonomists ‘position themselves’ to influence human factors and ergonomics (HFE) issues. The study examined how these stakeholders perceived their influence on HFE issues, constraints they operated under, and strategies used. The results contribute to an understanding of decisions and processes surrounding HFE practices, showing that organisational entry points and stakeholder expectations on IEs and ergonomists affect their influence on HFE issues. Ergonomists influenced HFE issues by leveraging their knowledge of other stakeholders’ priorities, and were more dependent on accessing the issue via a ‘problem owner’. IEs were often entrusted with greater freedom to act on improvements. Expressing HFE improvements in terms of business benefits was a successful strategy for both. It was found that ergonomists operated as