From ergonomics to design specifications: contributions to the design of a processing machine in a tire company Moraes, A. S. P. a* , Arezes, P.M. a , and Vasconcelos, R. b a Department of Production and Systems Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800-073, Guimarães, Portugal b Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Manuel Pereira da Silva 4200-392, Porto, Portugal Abstract. The development of ergonomics’ recommendations, guidelines and standards are attempts to promote the integration of ergonomics into industrial contexts. Such developments result from several sources and professionals and represent the ef- fort that has been done to develop healthier and safer work environments. However, the availability of large amount of data and documents regarding ergonomics does not guarantee their applicability. The main goal of this paper is to use a specific case to demonstrate how ergonomics criteria were developed in order to contribute to the design of workplaces. Based on the obtained results from research undertaken in a tire company, it was observed that the ergonomics criteria should be presented as design specifications in order to be used by engineers and designers. In conclusion, it is observed that the multiple constraint environment impeded the appliance of the ergonomics criteria. It was also observed that the knowledge on technical design and the acquaintance with ergonomic standards, the level of integration in the design team, and the ability to communicate with workers and other technical staff have paramount importance in integrating ergonomics criteria into the design process. Keywords: ergonomics criteria, design process, design specifications, tire company * Corresponding author. Address: Departamento de Produção e Sistemas – Escola de Engenharia/Universidade do Minho. Campus de Azurém. 4800-000. Phone: +351 915 295 292. E-mail: sophiapiacenza@gmail.com 1. Introduction The development of ergonomics’ requirements, recommendations, guidelines and standards are at- tempts to promote the integration of ergonomics into industrial contexts. Industries, governments, associa- tions and organizations have been striving to develop and apply human factors to new design projects or ongoing activities. The assumption underlined in this effort is that supplying ergonomics criteria to design will result in better workplaces and/or more efficient operations [11]. It is remarkable the importance that human factors can play in helping to avoid accidents and ill-health at work [10]. Regardless of the afore- mentioned efforts, the total number of occupational accidents and fatal work-related diseases has in- creased globally in the last decade [19]. The problem does not seem to be associated only with the avail- ability of human factors information to designers [1]. It is important to consider that one of the reasons for the increasing trends of occupational accidents and work-related diseases numbers could be related to the lack of consideration on ergonomics criteria into design. In order to do so, it is important to realize how ergonomics criteria are developed by ergono- mists. Secondly, it is essential to understand how the ergonomic criteria are perceived and used on real design contexts by design teams. Through this, it is possible to develop better ergonomics tools and methods, in order to increase the chance of an ergo- nomic criteria consideration on the design. This study also represents an effort to understand the context on which a design process occurs. The research was carried out in a tire factory and presents Work 41 (2012) 552-559 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-2012-0210-552 IOS Press 552 1051-9815/12/$27.50 © 2012 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved