End users "Feedback" to improve ergonomic design of machinery

This paper describes the Feedback method designed to collect the contribution of users for the reconstruction and comprehension of the actual work and real activity for the improvement of the technical standards, design, manufacturing and use of machinery. The Feedback method has since now been applied successfully - in collaboration with public authorities, market surveillance bodies, social partners organization and technical institutes - to five different types of machines: woodworking machinery, forklift trucks, angle grinder and combine harvester. After ten years of experimentation in seven European countries Feedback has proved to be trans-nationally comparable and has attracted the interest of as much as 250 expert users - mostly workers, but also employers and technicians - who have shared their knowledge and experience by taking part in almost 30 working groups. The information collected with the Feedback method can be used by: -CEN and ISO standardization committees and working groups to become aware of the problems relating to the real use of specific machines in different work contexts, and thus to be able to draw up new or to revise existing standards accordingly; - Designers and manufacturers to produce better, more comfortable and safer machines and to provide precise instructions for use; - Employers, users and workers for training purposes and for defining appropriate work procedures; - Inspection bodies to enhance their knowledge and improve the efficiency of their interventions and advice.