Our History

December 1998

February 1984

February 1985

April 1986

May 1987

December 1988

May 1989

1988 to 1989

1990 to 1994

1994 to 1996

1996 to 1998

2002 to 2020

2020 to 2023

Preliminary meetings held at Human Resources Research Laboratory Chamber of Mines, Johannesburg 14th March, 1983 to discuss the path forward for Ergonomics in South Africa.

First principal meeting setting up a study group to address the feasibility of an Ergonomics Society in South Africa was held at the Design Institute, SABS, Pretoria 24th February, 1984.

More than 30 participants gathered to nominate a Study Group (volunteers and press ganged members) comprising a broad spectrum of expertise from educational institutions, government bodies and industry.

The Study Group: Bob Bridger, Phil Fraser, Tony Golding, Brian Hill, George Jaros, Johnny Johnston, Ennio Macagnano, Geoff Meese, Pieter Nel, Jan van Tonder and Don Wright.

Mike Cooke joined later to prepare a viable Constitution. Jack Charteris and Pat Scott joined. Brian Hill of the Design Institute volunteered to act as Secretariat.

The Ergonomics Society of Southern Africa was formally inaugurated 5th and 6th February, 1985 at the First Conference “Ergonomics ’85”, was held in the CSIR Conference Centre, Pretoria. The keynote speaker was Stuart Kirk, and Mike Cooke presented the inaugural speech. More than 40 papers were presented to over 100 delegates. An encouraging official start.

During the conference a General Meeting was held and a First Council was ratified. Office Bearers and Committee Members were elected.

Chairman: Tony Golding
Vice Chairman: Jan van Tonder
Secretary: Brian Hill
Treasurer: Geoff Meese
Committee: Bob Bridger/George Jaros (alternate)

Jack Charteris
James Fisher
Graham Kinsey
Ennio Macagnano
Pieter Nel
Reinette Nel/Mike de Ruig (alternate)
O A Tenikalp

Secretariat: Design Institute, SABS

A second conference, “ESA ’86” was held on 14 and 15 April 1986 at the Postgraduate Medical Centre, University of Cape Town. Delegates numbered about 30, and just under 40 papers were presented.

The AGM saw very little change in the Council, although OA Tenikalp departed, and, more importantly, Daan Page, Pat Scott and Don Wright were elected as Committee Members.

A third conference, “Ergonomics SA ’87” was held on 12th and 13th May 1987, at the CSIR Conference Centre, Pretoria.
The theme, unlike the previous, was a very broad spectrum of events, focused more specifically on Consumer Ergonomics, with the presentation by Paul Moss, Hoover plc, as the Keynote Speaker. Over 30 papers were presented to about 40 delegates

The Council remained the same; however, with severe “winds of change” occurring at the Design Institute, the Secretariat changed to James Fisher’s Division of Industrial Psychology, University of the Witwatersrand.

Disappointingly, no conference this time, although a symposium titled “Aspects of Work Stress” was held on 2nd December 1988 under the auspices of James Fisher’s Secretariat. 10 papers were presented to about 30 delegates.

A fourth conference, “Ergos ’98” was held on 2nd and 3rd May 1989 at Senate House, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, where 23 papers were presented. The number of delegates attending was low. Keynote Speaker: W B Rouse, Search Technology, Georgia, USA.

The Secretary/Treasurer during this period became an interspersed responsibility between James Fisher and Brian Hill.

Impact of the Society diminished over this period, with many of the original Council Members having moved away or on for various reasons.

Tony Golding, Brian Hill, Geoff Parr, and Glyn Pickering jointly shared the Secretary and Treasurer functions, and the Secretariat moved to the National Institute for Personnel Research, HSRC, Johannesburg. Membership reduced dramatically to about 20.

Regular submissions were made to this body over the period of 10 years, the last in 1994, which was eventually successful with the onset of our new South Africa, and the continuous issue of ‘Southern’ Africa was changed and the Ergonomics Society of South Africa (ESSA) was formed and duly accepted as a Federated Society.

The Fifth Conference “esa ’94” was held in Grahamstown, where Hal Hendrick, then President of the IEA, was the Key Speaker. Attendance was poor, and membership was low.

Jack Charteris took over as Chairperson, Pat Scott as secretary, and Theo de Koker as Treasurer. Johan Hendrikse and Coen Calitz were Council Members.

Pat Scott was the first official SA representative at the joint IEA/South American Conference in Rio de Janeiro.

Membership was growing, Houshang Shahnavaz and Pat Scott ran five successful Roving Seminars on the ‘Ergonomic Checkpoints’, and the sixth conference “ESA ’96” was run in conjunction with Noshcon ’96 at the World Trade Centre in Johannesburg. J Nkurlu, the ILO representative in Zimbabwe, was the Keynote Speaker.

The Council Members remained the same.

ESSA has grown considerably over the last 2 decades and has driven the need and importance of Ergonomics in South Africa. During this time, ESSA has hosted annual conferences and, in 2019, hosted its 14th annual conference. ESSA has also built strategic partnerships, which include the Department of Labour, now the Department of Employment of Labour, as well as Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS).

ATNS and ESSA have hosted joint conferences over the years in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. ESSA is also a key driver and role-player in ErgoAfrica, and is a representative in the BRICSplus network. Much work has gone into promoting ergonomics in Industrially Developing Countries (IDCs), with the International Ergonomics Association establishing an Industrial Development Committee Chair as part of its Executive. A significant contributor to this has been due to Andrew Todd, who has championed this important role and has, as such, created a keen world interest in ergonomics work in IDCs. Andrew serves as the IDC Chair on the IEA Executive.

ESSA continues to be successful due to the work of its committee members who are all volunteers and work full time in either industry or academia. ESSA continues its close ties with Rhodes University and the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. A major development at the end of 2019 was the promulgation of the Ergonomics Regulations by the Department of Employment and Labour. This is a significant moment in our history as it is the first time ergonomics has been regulated in South Africa. This will ensure that employees and workplaces are safe, healthy and comfortable, thereby minimising the risk for injuries and harm in the workplace. We look forward to the next decade and growing our Society in South Africa.

Despite the many challenges associated with the pandemic, ESSA continued to contribute creating awareness about the value of Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) both locally and internationally, while also forming strategic relationships with several important stakeholders locally and internationally.

Over the three years, the council facilated several online events, including webinars that focused on profiling how to perform Ergonomics Risk assessments, the overlapping areas of interest between HFE and User Experience (UX), why studying HFE (for prospective students) is important and how local ergonomists were coping with the challenges posed by the pandemic.

In terms of strategic partnerships, ESSA formally signed MOUs with the South African Institute of Occupational Health (SAIOH) and the South African Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (SAIOSH), while also working closely with the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF) based in the United Kingdom.

On the registration of professionals, under the leadership of Andrew Thatcher, the Professional Affairs Board (PAB) continued to grow the pool of certified professionals in South Africa, while also securing an endorsement from the International Human Factors and Ergonomics Association (IEA) for the PAB's certification process. This demonstrated the rigour with which professionals are recognised in the country and serves as a good example for other societies in the Global South of how to achieve this.

A continued challenge associated with the management of the membership was the platform through which this process occured. To improve this and professional the interaction with members, the society invested in the YourMembership platform, which offers several different products to manage the affairs of the society. While this did require a significant investment, it was an important step for the council, largely made up of volunteers, to take, to ease the workload associated with running the society.

Members of ESSA also represented the society at an international level. Andrew Thatcher occupied the chair of the IEA's adhoc committee on the Future of Work, which saw Andrew facilitate several webinars with experts across the globe on how the HFE can contribute to the ever changing way of working in different parts of the world. Andrew Todd chaired the adhoc committee on strategic development and implementation, which saw him contribute significantly improving the way in which the IEA Executive committee structured and rans its projects across the different standing committees. Jonathan Davy took over the Chair of Communications and Public Relations, where he focused on improving the IEA's presence of social media, advertised and promoted events across the globe and managed the IEA NewsBriefs along with the Editor, Sma Ngcamu-Tukulula.

There is and remains a need to increase the understanding of what HFE is and the value that it can bring into systems across South Africa and Africa. The continued collaboration between the society and the Department of Employment and Labour and other stakeholders is key to this and will ensure that there is an appreciation of the importance of HFE alongside other safety and productivity centred disciplines.

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February 1985

During the conference a General Meeting was held and a First Council was ratified. Office Bearers and Committee Members were elected.

Chairman: Tony Golding
Vice Chairman: Jan van Tonder
Secretary: Brian Hill
Treasurer: Geoff Meese
Committee: Bob Bridger/George Jaros (alternate)

Jack Charteris
James Fisher
Graham Kinsey
Ennio Macagnano
Pieter Nel
Reinette Nel/Mike de Ruig (alternate)
O A Tenikalp

Secretariat: Design Institute, SABS

February 1984

First principal meeting setting up a study group to address the feasibility of an Ergonomics Society in South Africa was held at the Design Institute, SABS, Pretoria 24th February, 1984. More than 30 participants gathered to nominate a Study Group (volunteers and press ganged members) comprising a broad spectrum of expertise from educational institutions, government bodies and industry.

The Study Group: Bob Bridger, Phil Fraser, Tony Golding, Brian Hill, George Jaros, Johnny Johnston, Ennio Macagnano, Geoff Meese, Pieter Nel, Jan van Tonder and Don Wright. Mike Cooke joined later to prepare a viable Constitution. Jack Charteris and Pat Scott joined. Brian Hill of the Design Institute volunteered to act as Secretariat.

March 1983

On the 14th of March 1983, preliminary meetings held at Human Resources Research Laboratory Chamber of Mines, Johannesburg, to discuss the path forward for Ergonomics in South Africa.

Attendees included: Tony Golding, Brian Hill, A J Kielblock, Retief Kok and Glyn Pickering.