Ergonomic Audit €“ A New Management Function

Ergonomic audit is approached from the perspective of general trends in organizational and managerial development as well as the development and maturation of ergonomics, and as widely recognized theoretical and practical constructions. Beyond the terminological dispute, which can be explained in part, or the existence of difficulties and barriers, often invoked, it is presented the permanent evolution of ergonomic audit as a result of needs for conceptual and methodological consolidation in continuous change. In particular, are mentioned the scientific grounds and reasons for the development of ergonomic audit, its characteristics and the movement of objectives towards risk identification, certification of entities or verification of compliance with certain pre-established ergonomic criteria or associated standards. At the same time, the relatively recent mutations of the audit objectives from the traditional ones to the management issues are signaled, as well as the transition from the evaluation of the quantitative dimensions to the estimation of the qualitative aspects, including those of ergonomic nature. Consequently, ergonomic audit must be increasingly approached as a managerial tool, thus becoming a new function of ergonomic management, which requires that this modern concept, necessary and particularly useful, be institutionalized, understood, assumed and properly promoted.