A multi-ontology view of ergonomics: applying the Cynefin Framework to improve theory and practice

Ergonomics literature has often identified concerns about the difficulty of gaining support for ergonomics interventions. There appears to be a shift from the view that ergonomics issues can be made to be simple, towards a wider appreciation of the complexity of ergonomics problems in the real world. A framework from knowledge management--the Cynefin Framework--is recommended as providing a way of re-perceiving situations where ergonomics problems may be present or have already been identified. The framework uses multiple ontologies and indicates appropriate courses of investigation and action for each of four domains--the simple, the complex, the complicated and the chaotic. This paper presents evidence of the need for a multi-ontology approach and shows how the Cynefin Framework can be applied to ergonomics.