The Building & Construction Regular Sessions will address the three broad areas of ergonomics and given that historically the focus has been on physical ergonomics, there is a need to address cognitive, and organizational ergonomics relative to building and construction. Given the advent of Industry 4.0, such related submissions will add major value to the symposium.

During previous IEA Congresses, certainly 2018, and 2021, built environment-related papers were included in other technical Committee tracks, which the IEA should endeavour to mitigate. Therefore, a range of keywords have been included below, which include the umbrella ‘Architecture, Engineering, Construction’ (AEC).
KEYWORDS: Architecture, Building, Built Environment, Construction, Engineering, Industry 4.0

Nowadays, digital modelling of physical humans and their behaviour has in many ways and application areas matured from research into industrial application. Nevertheless, a large potential for further development remains. With regard to human simulation, digital human models (DHM) have become commonly used tools in virtual prototyping and human-centred product design. They support human-in-the-loop (HITL) ergonomic evaluation of new product designs during the early design stages of a product, by means of modeling anthropometry, posture, forces, motion, muscular effort, or predicted discomfort. While DHM are currently still largely stand-alone applications, future DHM will be dominated by fully integrated CAE methods, realistic 3D design, and musculoskeletal and soft tissue modelling all the way down to the micro-scale molecular processes within single muscle fibres. Important aspects of current DHM research are functional analysis, model integration, and task simulation. Digital (“virtual”; “analytic”) humanoids provide streamlined and efficient support of product testing and verification, allowing for task-dependent performance and motion simulation. Beyond rigid body mechanics, soft tissue modeling will become a standard in future DHM. When addressing advanced issues beyond anthropometry and biomechanics in a holistic perspective, human mental modeling, behaviours, abilities, and skills must be considered in DHM. Recent projects have proposed a more comprehensive approach to human modelling by implementing perceptual, cognitive, and performance models, representing human behaviour on a non-physiologic level. Through integration of algorithms from the artificial intelligence domain, the vision of a virtual human will become reality.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

Globally, the TC focuses on the understanding of sex and gender dimensions in ergonomics research and intervention. In particular, the TC fosters production and dissemination of knowledge on the interactions among gender, sex, work environment, working conditions, work activity, well-being and productivity in order to favor equal access of women and men to economic, physical and psychological well-being at work. The three objectives of the TC are:

To advance understanding of the interactions between gender, sex and the science and practice of ergonomics.
To advance understanding of gender issues in the context of work, in relation to the science and practice of ergonomics.
To enhance the contribution of the science and practice of ergonomics to equal access of men and women to economic, physical and psychological well-being.

This track encompasses all applications of human factors and ergonomics in healthcare, including the application of physical, cognitive and organizational ergonomics to optimize system performance, staff well-being and patient safety. We welcome submissions across all areas of healthcare, but encourage those that align with the topics below.

Healthcare information technology, including AI
Medical devices
Patient safety
Workforce safety
Non-technical skills in healthcare
Optimizing work for staff
Patient/citizen participation and education
Patient-clinician communication and shared decision making
Resilience and high reliability in healthcare systems
Sustainable healthcare

Today, major technological improvements are enabling ever closer interaction between humans and robotic systems. This ranges from light to heavy, from manufacturing to service, and from mobile to stationary robots. This track includes papers discussing a human-centred design of these innovative systems, with a focus on human factors in all its facets such as physical, cognitive and organisational ergonomics. Topics include but are not limited to:

Human-robot interaction
Design of Human-centred robots
Robotics in manufacturing
Healthcare, service & education applications
Robotics for sustainability, climate change or civil aid
AI and Robotics
Exoskeletons and wearable robotics
Implementation strategies for robotic systems

Ergonomic / Human Factors research and application are central to creating workplaces without accidents or occupational diseases. This track encompasses all the leading contemporary applications and advancing technologies used by ergonomists or occupational health and safety professionals to increase safe work environment and tools, improve safety culture, manage accidents and risk, plan prevention & intervention or use personal protective equipment as a last resort.

Topics:
- Accidents
- Prevention & Intervention
- Protective equipment
- Risk
- Safety Culture and Cultural Safety
- Machinery and Product Safety
- Ergonomics Management System
- AI for Safety
- OSH training
- Design for OSH
- Safe and Healthy Workplaces
- Innovative OSH