Ergonomics is an interdisciplinary field that designs objects, systems, and environments to improve human capability and interaction. It is largely synonymous with the term human factors, which covers the same technical areas but originated and developed in Europe. Although ergonomics has a broad scope, it commonly refers to workplace health, [Page 153]performance, and safety. An emerging approach is the application of green ergonomic principles, particularly the design of environmentally friendly equipment and systems. This article outlines the ergonomics field and the position of green approaches within it.

A central theme of ergonomics is the environment-behavior relationship, in which environment is defined loosely to include built environments (buildings, workplaces) such as the material environment (lighting, temperature, noise), technical environment (equipment, workstations, parameters of machines), organizational environment (work ...