The Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF – formerly The Ergonomics Society) is a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

-based

professional society A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that profession, and the ...

for ergonomists, human factors specialists, and those involved in user-centred design.

History

The Ergonomics Society was officially created on 17 September 1949 at a meeting of a number of academics at the Admiralty in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Among the founding members were

Frederic Bartlett Sir Frederic Charles Bartlett FRS (20 October 1886 – 30 September 1969) was a British psychologist and the first professor of experimental psychology at the University of Cambridge. He was one of the forerunners of cognitive psychology as wel ...

Donald Broadbent Donald Eric (D. E.) Broadbent CBE, FRS (Birmingham, 6 May 1926 – 10 April 1993) was an influential experimental psychologist from the UK His career and research bridged the gap between the pre-World War II approach of Sir Frederic Bartlett a ...

, W. E. Hick, Alan Welford, and J. S. Weiner. In 1957 it started to publish the periodical journal ''Ergonomics''. In partnership with

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa ...

and

Elsevier Elsevier () is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, '' Trends'', th ...

, the Institute currently publishes six journals: ''Ergonomics'', ''Applied Ergonomics'', ''Behaviour and Information Technology'', ''

Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science The ''Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science'' (TIES) journal is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed academic journal covering research in human factors and ergonomics. Unlike other ergonomics journals that deal primarily with applications, TIE ...

'', ''Injury Control and Safety Promotion'' and the ''Journal of Sports Sciences''. Following a meeting of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

on 27 May 2014, Her Majesty The Queen approved an Order granting a

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

to the Institute. At the start of 2015, the Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors became the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors. The charter confers recognition, at the highest level, of the uniqueness and value of its scientific discipline and the pre-eminent role of the Institute in representing both the discipline and the profession in the UK. The Royal Charter grants the right to the Institute "to award the protected status of “Chartered Ergonomist and Human Factors Specialist (C. ErgHF)” to those practising Registered Members and Fellows who remain in good standing with the Institute". In October 2019 the Institute announced the appointment of its new CEO, Noorzaman Rashid.

Activities

The CIEHF makes a number of awards for accomplishments in ergonomics and human factors including the President's Medal and the Sir Frederic Bartlett Award for major contributions to ergonomics. The Institute has a number Special Interest Groups (SIGs) for: Driving Ergonomics, Human-Computer Interaction, Healthcare Ergonomics, Sports Ergonomics, Nuclear Ergonomics, Occupational Safety and Motorcycle Ergonomics. The CIEHF has its offices in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

. By the end of 2013 there were 1700 members and at the end of 2014 the Institute had 294 members who were eligible for Chartered status, with many more about to become so. At the 2014 Conference, held at the Grand Harbour Hotel in Southampton, Professor Roger Haslam from

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

was inaugurated as the new president of IEHF, taking over the role from Dr Richard Graveling. Professor

Sarah Sharples Sarah Catherine Sharples (born 1972) is a British academic specialising in human factors and ergonomics. She has been Professor of Human Factors at the University of Nottingham since 2012 and chief scientific adviser for the Department for Transport ...

, from the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

and the Human Factors Research Group was also appointed as President Elect. In 2008, to mark the journal's 50th year of publication, a special issue of "Ergonomics" (Volume 51, Number 1) was published, guest edited by Neville A. Stanton and Rob Stammers, covering the history of the society and including a re-print of the Ergonomics Research Society lecture given by Sir Frederick Bartlett in 1962. The CIEHF has worked in partnership with other organisations and the UK Government to establish the Occupational Health & Safety Consultant Register.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors, The Ergonomics organizations Learned societies of the United Kingdom Loughborough Organizations established in 1949 Ergonomics and Human Factors Research institutes in Leicestershire 1949 establishments in the United Kingdom