Ergonomical evaluation for the design of the computer laboratory PC Lab3 in the department of Industrial Engineering at EMU and proposing a better design

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study is evaluating both furniture and layout of the computer lab in the Industrial Engineering Department at EMU University and its effect on the student posture, performance and attention. Fifty students were used as subjects. Their ages range between 18 to 35 years. Eleven anthropometric data of the subjects were measured including: Stature, shoulder height, shoulder elbow height, buttock popliteal length, popliteal height, knee height, forearm hand length, hip width, elbow sitting height, sitting height and eye sitting height. The mean, standard deviation, percentiles, minimum and maximum value of anthropometric dimensions were calculated. The current layout of the lab was evaluated by observing the number of workstations, aisles, free areas available, placement of whiteboard and presentation screen. The current layout was found to fail to comply with Ergonomy design criteria. The results from hypotheses testing showed that there are significant differences between male and female body dimensions. A new design of furniture and a new layout for PC lab proposed to improve the level of comfort and the level of attention to lectures for students. Keywords: Anthropometric data, Percentiles, Ergonomy design criteria, layout. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………