To be accredited as a qualifying course a programme must cover essential ergonomics knowledge content to the programme standards below:
| Essential taught knowledge areas | Indicative content | Guideline minimum hours |
| Human mental characteristics | Attention, perception, learning and memory, stress, arousal, motivation, individual differences, group behaviour, social cognition models, psychosocial factors in performance | 150hrs |
| Human physical characteristics | Anatomy, physiology, anthropometrics, human response to the environment, musculoskeletal disorders | 150hrs |
| Systems ergonomics | Socio-technical systems, systems failures, training, human reliability, organisational design and change, job design | 150hrs |
| Ergonomics methods | Methods, tools, measurement techniques, evaluation of work activities, assessment of the workplace | 150hrs |
| Research methods | Research methods, research design, qualitative and quantitative investigation techniques and analysis including statistical analysis of data | 150hrs |
To be accredited as a qualifying course a programme must also show clear evidence of essential ergonomics themes that run through the essential taught knowledge areas above and wider curriculum.
| Essential theme | Indicative themes | Guideline minimum hours |
| Ergonomics approach characteristics | User centred design, participatory, holistic and integrated essential knowledge areas | 150hrs |
| Ergonomics knowledge attributes | Theoretical and practical knowledge, scientific basis, integrated, evidence based | 150hrs |
| Ergonomics knowledge aims | Health, safety, wellbeing, efficiency, effectiveness | 150hrs, 15 Credits UK, 5/6 ECTS |
| Ergonomics knowledge application | Product design, workplace interventions, systems design and evaluation | 150hrs |
| Professional Skills | Legislation, standards, project management, ethics, communication, interdisciplinary work | 150hrs |
| Ergonomics based research project | Either laboratory based research, use-inspired research or application based work | 300hrs at Level 6, 600hrs at Level 7 |
150hrs = 15 Credits UK, 5/6 ECTS
Minimum total hours of ergonomics content at level 5, 6 or 7 across all the areas above is 1650 (including self-study, assessment and taught content). This equates to 165 Credits UK or 55 to 66 ECTS.
Programme Standards
In addition to the essential ergonomics knowledge content above, ergonomics programmes must also meet the following programme standards:
- Curriculum: The programme must be delivered in English and reflect current scholarship, research and practice including a critical awareness of current issues and developments in ergonomics. A programme specification should be available that provides the programme aims and intended learning outcomes. The teaching and learning strategy should ensure sufficient breadth and depth of coverage of the IEHF Programme Curriculum Requirements.
- Assessment: All essential taught knowledge areas must be separately assessed in English and contribute to the final award classification. Essential curriculum themes should be assessed, but this does not need to be separated from knowledge areas. Assessment should be shown to be valid, reliable, fair and appropriate to the level of award, e.g. through moderation by an external examiner. Marking should be undertaken only by appropriately qualified staff.
- Entry Criteria: The programme must specify entry criteria that allow equality of opportunity and access to a diverse range of applicants.
- Awards: Successful fulfilment of the programme’s requirements must lead to the conferment of a named award from a Higher Education institution.
- Leadership: The programme provider must appoint an appropriately qualified (e.g. Registered Member of the IEHF) director or leader for the programme, who provides an ergonomics overview and brings coherence to the course.
- Staffing: The programme provider must have adequate staffing in place to support the effective delivery of the programme. At least half of the programme content must be led by members of the IEHF and there should be a minimum of two members of the IEHF on the programme teaching team.
- Resources: The programme provider must have appropriate resources in place to support the effective delivery of the programme be it delivered on-campus (e.g. resources such as lecture rooms and laboratories) or at a distance (e.g. resources such as online discussion forums and interactive virtual work environments).
- Quality Management: The programme provider must have quality management systems (e.g. External Examiners and periodic review of the validity of the programme).
- Ethics: The programme must cover ethical conduct and ensure students work ethically.
- Misconduct: The programme providers should have policies and procedures in place to detect and deal with issues that may arise with student conduct during assessment.
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