Activities - 2005 - Personal Talks with Societies

Policy and Action Items by FEES, based on the 'Personal Talks'

1. Introduction; Proposal for discussion

This document describes the approach the FEES Executive has made through the 'Personal Talks'-mechanism in order to learn about wishes and expectations by the member societies about FEES. We have also gathered experiences and suggestions from our members, useful for FEES.

The Executive has elaborated the outcomes and results of those Talks with regard to wishes and expectations. This process has led to 6 clusters. Those 6 clusters are important policy issues in the next period for FEES, followed by actions of different volume and intensity. However, all of this should remain a living approach!

The FEES Executive proposes to discuss this 'Personal Talks' document at the forthcoming Council Meeting (April 3rd, 2005 in Hatfield/UK) in a plenary discussion with a special attention to the actions, proposed by the Executive and partially already activated.

Evidently there are several similarities between the FEES Personal Talks-approach and -follow-up and the initiatives by the IEA, where during the IEA Council in Madeira (July 24-25, 2004) several subgroups have discussed how to increase the involvement of the IEA federated societies in the activities of the IEA. The results of that discussion are reported by the chair of the IEA Development Committee, Jan Dul (Version 1 / August 26, 2004). We should try to take advantage by these similarities!

2. Background information about the Personal Talks-procedure

All FEES-member societies received in November 2003 information about the 'Personal Talks'-project with the announcement that members of the FEES Executive were prepared to make appointments for a 'Personal Talk'-meeting with those societies that reacted positively.

Personal Talk-discussions took place with:

1. Nederlandse Vereninging voor Ergonomie / NvvE (February 9th, 2004)
2. Nordic Ergonomics Society / NES (March 27th, 2004)
3. Ergonomics Society / ES (April 19th, 2004)
4. Gesellschaft für Arbeitswissenschaft / GfA (April 23rd, 2004)
5. Irish Ergonomics Society / IES - only by phone (May 4th, 2004)
6. Finnish Ergonomics Society / ERY (May 4th, 2004)
7. Belgian Ergonomics Society / BES (June 27 th, 2004)
8. Portuguese Ergonomics Society / APERGO (October 22nd-23rd, 2004)

We asked for a participation to the Talks by at least the President of the society together with the representative for FEES-matters; from the side of FEES 5 out of 8 Talks were attended by the FEES President, 2 by the FEES Secretary, and 1 by the Treasurer. The duration of the Personal Talk-discussions was highly variable (from 1,5 to 4,5 hours). In all cases the societies expressed their great appreciation with this approach of a face-to-face contact between the society and the FEES.

Regrettable, the majority of the absent member societies is located in South Europe (Italy, Spain, Greece). However, the final outcome of the Personal Talks is - in our opinion - applicable for total Europe!

3. Items for discussion in the Personal Talks

After a short 'who-is-who' the actual situation of the member society was explained and discussed. Then the following items became discussed:

1. What are your expectations towards FEES; what priorities do you have?
2. Do you have ideas, suggestions, and/or wishes to FEES for new initiatives?
3. What experience by your society could be of interest for FEES?
4. What support can your society offer to FEES to realize the various FEES-objectives?

After that miscellaneous items were discussed.

4. Results / General remarks

Though the complete outcome is presented in the annex to this document (not available in the public area of the website), the clustered results will be presented here. An important note must be made: with so many reactions it is unavoidable to loose some separate reactions in our approach of clustering. In order to verify the quality of the clustering we refer to the annex.

4.0 Results / Information about the actual situation of the member societies

Every society has its own characteristics and challenges with positive but also negative developments. It is difficult to describe common lines. However, there are some!

Many of the societies suffer diminishing amount of members. Individual members have to fight against reduced interest for ergonomics in the community. Traditional activities organized by the ergonomics societies do not attract great attendance; emerging innovative initiatives, however, are more successful! The image of ergonomics is still rather one-sided physical oriented; some member societies consider to (re-)introduce the wording Human Factors in their name. Member societies seem to hesitate about organizational relations between ergonomics and ergonomists.

4.1 Results / Clusters about the item 'Expectations towards FEES'

The majority of issues, mentioned under the item 'Expectations', etc. can more or less be concentrated to several clusters, here presented in random sequence. We have deliberately decided to work with clusters of reduced content! Clusters can have an overlap.

Cluster 1 / Communication
Communication about activities between various member societies; communication about the planning of such activities.

Cluster 2 / Cooperation
Exchange of ideas about developments and/or specific situations of member societies. More frequent mutual discussion; greater cooperation.

Cluster 3 / Identity
Promotion of ergonomics and ergonomists; what is our identity?

Cluster 4 / Standards
The development, the use, and the influences of (good) ergonomics standards in Europe.

Cluster 5 / Promotion at EU
The relation between ergonomists in Europe and the EU; how to enhance our contribution?

Cluster 6 / EUR&D
The involvement of ergonomics in Europe in EU Research & Development; projects.

Cluster 7 / Benefits
What are the benefits to become a member of FEES?

Cluster 8 / Ergonomists
Attention to the support of ergonomists; develop contacts.

4.2 Results / Clusters about the item 'Ideas / suggestions / wishes to FEES'

In various discussions the items 'Expectations' and 'Ideas / suggestions / wishes' are often interwoven. Therefore, we will number the clusters consecutively.

Cluster 9 / Communications and information dissemination
Communication between member societies through the FEES-website; dissemination of information about activities and experience of interest for colleague-societies.

Cluster 10 / Scientific activities
Attention for and organization of scientific activities by FEES such as conferences, meetings, awards, etc.

Cluster 11 / EU information about ergonomics
Organization of EU-related information, important for ergonomics.

Cluster 12 / Promotion to the public
Promotion of ergonomics to the general public and to special interest groups.

Cluster 13 / Access to EU
Organization of 'entries' with the EU; access to EU-facilities.

Cluster 14 / Officer contacts
Organization of contacts between the officers of the various member societies.

Cluster 15 / Education and training
Development of training courses in ergonomics; cooperation between FEES and CREE.

4.3 Results / Combined clusters, out of 4.1 and 4.2

The results of the discussion items 'Expectations, etc.' and 'Ideas / suggestions, etc.', as presented under 4.1 and 4.2, show similarities and comparabilities. Therefore, we have both groups of clusters put together and derived from that combined clusters as follows:

Cluster 'Promotion of Ergonomics' (Combination from the Clusters 3, 8, and 12)
Promotion of ergonomics to the general public and to special interest groups, such as unions, managers, politicians, etc. What could ergonomics contribute to the needs of our societies? What is exactly the identity of ergonomics and an ergonomist and how could we communicate this with the 'outside' world in Europe?

Cluster 'Communication & Cooperation' (Combination from the Clusters 1, 2, 9, 10, and 14)
To stimulate and facilitate the communication between the (officers of the) various member societies. How to learn from each experiences and activities, taking into consideration the specific situation of the societies? How to harmonize the planning of national activities (such as annual conferences, etc.) with those of other member societies? To stimulate and facilitate greater cooperation with regard to scientific activities like meeting, awards, etc.

Cluster 'Relations with the E.U.' (Combination from the Clusters 5, 6, 11, and 13)
To strengthen the relations with the EU and its various institutes, such as Dublin and Bilbao. How to find the best access! How to become involved in the EU R&D policy and other appropriate projects? What information, facilities, and developments at EU are important and useful for ergonomics in Europe?

Cluster 'Ergonomic Standards' (Derived from Cluster 4)
How to improve the quality of ergonomic standards and how to support the development of (good) ergonomic standards? How to stimulate the application by ergonomists and others of those standards, taking advantage of the legal power by EU legislation?

Cluster 'Training & Education' (Derived from Cluster 15)
Attention for and the further development of ergonomic training and educational tools; this in good cooperation between FEES and CREE.

Cluster 'Cost-Benefits of FEES Membership' (Derived from Cluster 7)
Make clear what are the advantages to be member of FEES. How is the balance between costs and benefits of a FEES-membership?

4.4 Follow-up actions, based on combined clusters

Based on the 6 combined clusters as described under 4.3 the FEES Executive proposes to launch various initiatives related with each combined cluster.

The intention by the Executive is to use as good as possible the 'momentum' and initiates as quick as possible after the period of the 'Talks'. An immediate continuation through various types of actions (completely compatible with the objectives of FEES, as described in the Basic Rules art. 2).

This continuation is a living status! Some initiatives are new; some are already ongoing. Further development is needed!

Related to Cluster 'Promotion of Ergonomics' and partially Cluster 'Communication & Cooperation'

The FEES-Executive proposes to identify a special position at the Executive for the promotion and communication about ergonomics and the contribution of ergonomists in this regard. This Promotion and Communication functionary must give specific attention to the implementation of Cluster 'Promotion of Ergonomics', partially Cluster 'Communication & Cooperation'.

Promotion and communication should be two-sided oriented and applicable:

• Externally oriented:
  • to promote and to communicate ergonomics to the public (in particular to the EU), including examples of good and bad practices of ergonomics.
• Internally oriented:
  • to develop the identity of ergonomics and ergonomists
  • to support and to stimulate the development of methods and tools for communication / information / cooperation between the various member societies.

The P&C functionary will work in close relation with the FEES Webmaster (Dietmar Gude), who has already developed some actions on the FEES-website, related with P&C (examples of good / bad ergonomics). The development of P&C material could also be a task for this functionary.

Related to Cluster 'Communication & Cooperation'

The follow-up of (parts of the content of) this cluster could be related with the FEES website. The Webmaster is invited to develop further initiatives about the communication between the member societies. Since one year all societies are strongly invited to present themselves on our website according to a suggested layout. It is our intention to realize in 2005 an annual planning survey on the website, fed by the FEES member societies.

Regarding the scientific activities, the Meeting Committee is asked to play a more prominent role in this regard.

Related to Cluster 'Relations with the E.U.'

This cluster - of strategic importance - is covered by the EUTF / European Task Force: FEES tries to realize a network of ergonomists (actually 3 persons) in the various countries with EU-experiences and also access to the EU-organization. As a very important part of the promotional and fact-finding work must be executed in the Brussels region the existence of a Brussels Task Force / BTF is indicated. At present the BTF is staffed with 4 ergonomists, living in or near Brussels; all with limited time availability!

Therefore, the Executive recommends to nominate an 'ambassador for FEES' for EU-matters in Brussels, supported by BTF.

The ambassador-functionary must have ergonomics experiences / knowledge about and/or access to the EU and willing to act specifically for FEES. A retired ergonomist from Belgium, eager to be still actively involved, could be an excellent candidate! The FEES-ambassador may get eventually a reward annually of all-in € 3.500,-. The ambassador is not evidently the chair of the EUTF.

Related to Cluster 'Ergonomic Standards'

For this cluster we are eager to install the FEES Standard Committee. Most probably this committee will start functioning in April 2005, with 3 persons.

Related to Cluster 'Training & Education'

FEES has developed good contacts with CREE under its former president, Philippe Mairiaux. The recently elected new president has expressed his intention to continue this approach. FEES will follow the policy to act in this field as much as possible with CREE. A first example could be the preparation of the IEA workshop in Oslo (October 2005) about requirements for master courses in ergonomics. The Meeting Committee will be invited to become involved in the preparation for this workshop on behalf of FEES.

Related to Cluster 'Cost-Benefits of FEES Membership'

A survey and an article about the cost-benefits balance of the FEES membership is in preparation and will be presented shortly on the website.

4.5 Results / 'Experiences of Interest for FEES' and 'Support by the Society for FEES'

As both items are closely linked they are presented here combined. The Executive takes into consideration all kinds of support and assistance. It will be used at the appropriate moment and situation, as much as possible. For the details, please refer to the annex (ch. 3, 4), which is not available in the public area of the website.

In summary:

• FEES may use experiences in different fields such as: the organization of (rotating international) conferences / organizational / structures / international composed editorial board / having a journal for a small society / ergonomics in a cheap labour country.
  
  
• FEES may use 'products' in different fields such as:
  • inventory of courses,
  • 'in company' press for conference proceedings,
  • contents of a competence register.
• FEES gets offers of different types, such as:
  • the development of an instrument for measurements on the website,
  • the creation of a mail base,
  • the organization of combined workshops,
  • the support of BTF II,
  • the hosting of committee meetings.

March 5th, 2005

Pieter Rookmaaker
(FEES President)

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Page created 2005 by Pieter Rookmaaker - last revision 11.10.2007 by Dietmar Gude