Hystory of the society

Ukrainian Ergonomics per se is a quite young from point of view of its formal existence. When the former USSR disintegrated and Ukraine declared its independence in 1991, national aspects of the ergonomics were viewed only historically. The most theoretical and applied investigations were carried out in accordance with the All-Union government scientific-technical programs and Complex Programs of the scientific-technical progress of the Council for Mutual Economic Aid's member-countries. The main activity were managed by work groups for particular directions, such as following:

· standardization,

· nuclear power plants,

· aviation,

· human-technique systems,

· consumer products,

· ergonomic database.

Professional interests of ergonomists were protected, to some extend, by the Soviet Ergonomics Association established in September 1989. 88 of its 500 members represented Ukraine. The USSR disintegration predetermined the necessity of the national consolidation of the Ukrainian ergonomists as well as creation and development of the national system of ergonomic maintenance for the national economic complex and, first of all, for industry. Centralized (administrative and commanding) methods of management have lost their efficiency. The country needed the creation of the system for ergonomic maintenance of the industrial complex and life-support of population. Both these components are closely connected among themselves, as far as the person should be supplied pursuant to international norms by all means of protection of his health and safety, participating in production of industrial goods and carrying out one third of the life on workplace and in working premise, being not only by manufacturer, but also consumer of industrial production.

With this purpose the All-Ukrainian Ergonomics Association was established in November 1992 and consisted of representatives from 17 region departments. The status of the Association was legalized, there was started the coordination of the research work held under the guidance of leading ergonomists in Ukraine - the members of the Association (Prof. Gerasimov B., Prof. Karpukhina A., Prof. Trofimov Yu., Ph.D. Voinenko V., Ph.D. Bondarovskaia V., Dr.Eng. Chachko A. - from Kiev; Prof. Kizimenko L. - Lvov; Prof. Marasanov V. - Kherson; Prof. Rotshteyn A. - Vinnitsa; Prof. Kosak Y. - Odessa; Prof. Chabanenko P. - Sevastopol; Prof. Gavrilov E., Prof. Asherov A., Kovalenko V. - Kharkov; etc.).

Dr.Vladlen Voinenko was elected as the first president. The founder of the All-Ukrainian Ergonomics Association, he was a key person in Ukrainian ergonomics, a head of the Department of Ergonomics in the National Research Institute for Design since 1977, an author of several books on ergonomic principles and design, a member of TC159 and TC201 (USSR).

Science priorities

The strategy of theoretical and applied investigations in the field of ergonomics in Ukraine is formed under the influence of the Chernobyl accident in 1986.

At present, Ukrainian ergonomists pay much attention to the problems of ergonomic and ecological aspects of safety of systems, machinery, equipment under conditions of man-caused risk. The transition from micro to the macro level of description of the social-technical system is not a declarative, but well-reasoned activity taking into account human factors’ influence on all sides of human being. Ergonomics should base on investigations of not only static characteristics of the system ”human-machine-environment”, but of their dynamics, on the complex description of social, biological, psychological, technological components of the human vital functions in the biosphere.

The researches and their applications were carried out by ergonomic departments of Kiev scientific and project organizations, namely National Research Institute for Design (methodological approaches, ergodynamics), Institute of Applied Informatics (computer ecology), Kiev Institute of Automatics (analysis of off-optimum situations and designing of computer-aided control systems for power industry), Kiev International University of Engineers of Civil Aviation (aircraft engineering), Kharkov Road University (automobile technique and road building).

Current goals

Taking into account the historical orientation of productive forces of Ukraine on service of military-industrial complex and agricultural production in interests of the whole former USSR, these tasks can be resolved only on the basis of complex account of problems of human's life-support.

The ergonomists offer the project of measures on creations of national system of ergonomic maintenance, main elements of which are the ergonomic services - internal (in structure of ministries and departments as well as enterprises) and external (centres of ergonomists training, research enterprises, information service, sertification service).

Industrial complex of Ukraine requires the creation (restoration, transformation, development) of network of these services possessing, in dependences on locations and time their functioning, feature of functions as services themselves, as their interactions. The activity aimed the development of the ergonomic maintenance system for Ukraine industrial complex and life-support of population is a complex of arrangements oriented on increasing of national intelligent potential in area of ergonomics. They are directed on solution of following main tasks:

· development of organizational maintenance;

· creation of normative-legal base;

· professional training and retraining of experts;

· development of information and science-methodical maintenance of the system.

Current activities

Main directions of activity are an information service including consulting, examination, carrying out of private ergonomic development, ergonomic information dissemination, as well as education/training in the field of ergonomics. In area of scientific development the priority directions are as follows: psychophysiological maintenance of activity, optimization of use of computer engineering, full account of environment factors effecting a human as during industrial activity, as in nonproduction sphere.

Projects being sponsored

Development of national ergonomic design standards and put to use international ergonomic standards are funded by Ministry of Industrial Politics of Ukraine.