An International Congress on Humanizing Work and Work Environment (HWWE’2001) was held in Mumbai between 11th to 14th December 2001, aimed at developing a common platform for exchange of ideas concerning improvement in work and work environment and alleviating the problems of health and safety of workers. The venue was the Industrial Design Centre of the Indian Institute of Technology – Bombay.
The congress was inaugurated by Prof.A. Misra, Director, IIT Bombay. Dr.P.K.Nag, Congress President, welcomed the gathering and Prof.G.G.Ray, Organising Secretary, introduced the theme and objective of the congress. Prof. Pat Scott as a IEA representative, presented views of IEA on IDDC with special reference to ergonomics in India and its implementation.
Mr.S.K.Saxena, Director general – Factory Advisory Service and Labour Inspectorate, Mumbai, Mr.V.U.Madne, Director, Industrial Safety and Health, Maharashtra, Ms.S.Udipi, Director, Dept. of PG Studies & Research in Home Science, SNDT Women’s University, and Mr.A.Pande, Tata Infotech, Mumbai, also spoke on the occasion. Prof. R.Hazra, Head, Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay, proposed a vote of thanks.
The inaugural session was followed by a theme lecture on Ergonomics for the developing countries by Prof. H. Shahnavaz, Lulea, Sweden.
Both the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) and the Indian Society of Ergonomics (ISE) were associated with the congress. The IEA sponsored an eminent ergonomist (Dr. Pat Scott) as its representative.
Eighteen international delegates from fifteen countries and 257 national delegates participated in the Congress. Altogether 120 oral and 23 poster papers were presented. The main congress presentations were held in three parallel sessions and two parallel sessions were devoted to the workshops.
Thirteen KEY NOTE ADDRESSES were given by eminent persons on various aspects of the congress theme.
PANEL DISCUSSIONS were organised on Agricultural Ergonomics (chaired by Dr.L.P.Gite), Women at Work (chaired by Dr.M.A.Varghese), and Fitness & Performance (chaired by Dr. K. Sen Ray).
The closing session was held on December 14, 2001. Professor M K G Menon, Chairman, Boards of Governors, IIT, delivered the valedictory address.
During the Congress a cultural programme was organised to give the delegates a taste of contemporary dance based on Tagore’s philosophy.
The Congress was sponsored by
Along with the congress an exhibition on different products were also organized from December 11 to 14, 2001.
Close to one hundred and seventy five abstracts were received from fifteen countries across the globe. 120 oral and 23 poster papers were presented. The initial fifteen sections proved to be inadequate to cater to the wide range of topics and had to be expanded to the following twenty two, plus a poster session.
A notable feature of the selection process was that priority was given to young scientists in each area, and some of them were also sponsored.
The main congress presentations were held in three parallel sessions and two parallel sessions were devoted to the workshops.
A digital version of all the papers received was given to all the delegates, and a printed version of the complete proceedings will be made available later.
During the congress, three workshops were conducted on areas of current interest. These were on:
Pre-congress workshop on Industrial Ergonomics was held on December 10 and 11, 2001. There were twenty five participants, representing different industries and academic / research organisations. The workshop was conducted by Professor H. Shahnavaz, Lulea University, Sweden, Professor Pat Scott, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa, Professor Shrawan. Kumar, University of Alberta, Canada, and Professor S. P. Dutta, University of Windsor, Canada
Workshop on Human Computer Interaction was held on December 12, 2001 with twelve participants. It was conducted by Professor Martin Helander, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Workshop on Fitness – Excellence in Performance was held on December 12 and 13, 2001. It was organized by Dr. K. Sen Ray, Dr. A. Goswami, Dr. R. Iqbal and Mr. R. Desai. Purpose of this workshop was to spread the awareness on physical fitness and its relation with sports performance. Speakers for this workshop were Prof. Leif M. Hambraeus, Uppsala University, Sweden, Dr. Philip Ainslie, Research Institute for Sports and Exercise Sciences Liverpool, UK, Dr.Dilip Nadkarni, Dr. K. Sen Ray, SNDT Women’s University and Dr. K.K. Olecsandr, Training Method Expert, Sports Authority of India.
Prof. Hambraeus spoke on “Supplements, Health and Performance” and included areas like Optimal nutritional requirement, RDA and requirement relation, intake and performance, special nutritional problems in training, antioxidants. Dr. Ainslie gave a detailed account on “Measurement of energy expenditure in sports and occupational ergonomics”. Dr. Nadkarni spoke on Sports Injury and rehabilitation. Dr. Sen Ray emphasized on the differences in the role of sports nutritionists and dietician and on session dependent nutritional requirement in athletes. Dr. Olecsandr spoke on “Training, over-training and de-training”. He had described practical experiences and details on training plan preparation. The workshop had a panel discussion session co-ordinated by Dr. Kinjal Suratwala with experts Prof. Hambraeus, Dr. Olecsandr and Dr. A. Goswami. Attended by more than 70 persons (medical doctors, coaches, fitness professionals and students), the event was highly appreciated by all participants.