The HKE department recently presented at the Rhodes University community engagement symposium on our collaboration with the Eastern Cape Academy of Sport, DSRAC, municipality and sports federations at the Sarah Baartman HPC.
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Managing grey and black water in dynamic, unplanned settlements in South Africa and globally continues to present significant challenges to the health and well-being of communities.
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Our own Prof @CandiceHKE will be at the Women's cricket congress. Please complete this online form to register for virtual attendance of the Women's Cricket Science, Medicine and Leadership Conference 2023: https://redcap.link/conference-online. Attendance is free.
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Kinesis = Greek for motion: Understanding the complex eclectic nature of human movements Ergonomics a= derived from the Greek ergon (work) and nomos (laws): The science of work, studying the interplay between humans and their tasks and environment, now extending across all aspects of human activity |
Objects of Study
Humans are the central factor in all activities of work life and society. No social, medical, technical or economical progress may take effect without humans being involved. Human health and performance are critical issues for a productive and successful individual and a progressing society.
Human Kinetics and Ergonomics provides knowledge about the function and the reaction of the human body in order to:
optimise human performance
avoid injury and keep healthy in professional activities as well as in private life, and
improve productivity and quality of output in all domains of work life.
This is of essential importance for South African society to further develop and help individuals to a healthy, wealthy and independent lifestyle.
The focus of the study is the Human factor at different activities and different conditions of life. We study human responses and reactions as well as the design of tasks, treatments, objects and environmental conditions according to the needs of the human. The unique approach of HKE is the holistic consideration of biomechanical, physiological, perceptual, mental and psycho-emotional aspects. This is jointly applied to improve human health, human performance and the productivity of human operations.
HKE is an interdisciplinary subject that integrates knowledge from different disciplines, such as anatomy, biomechanics, neurology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, engineering, computer science, management, economics etc. This variety makes it a fascinating subject but also a challenging one.
Fields of study
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Structure of the human body |
Functioning of the human body
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Sensory and mental functions
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Conceptual domain
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Application Areas
Knowledge of Human Kinetics and Ergonomics is applied to
improve hazardous working conditions,
optimise fitness and performance of sports people,
enable maximum productivity without harming the human body,
appropriate use of equipment and technology, and
help people live a healthy lifestyle.
HKE Community Engagement
HUMANS are the central factor in all activities of work-life and society. No social, medical, technical or economic progress may take effect without the humans being involved. Human health and performance are the key issues for a productive and successful individual and a progressing society.
Human Kinetics and Ergonomics provides knowledge about the function and the reaction of the human body in order to
This is of essential importance for South African society to further develop and help individuals for a healthy, wealthy and independent lifestyle.
Learn MoreWe offer a three year undergraduate course (HKE 1, HKE 2 and HKE 3) in the Science, Humanities and Commerce Faculty) as well as postgraduate education (Honours, Masters and PhD degrees). A newly developed Ergonomics Short Course aimed specifically at practitioners has been on offer since 2015.
The Human Kinetics and Ergonomics Department has been offering short courses in Ergonomics since 2015. These short courses are aimed to equip a range of practitioners, who have to perform ergonomics activities during the course of their work, with the necessary ergonomics knowledge and skills. These practitioners may come from the fields of health and safety, occupational hygiene, occupational medicine, rehabilitation, engineering, just to name a few and work across a large range of sectors.
After 5 years of experience running the "Certificate in Ergonomics" short course, and with the recent promulgation of the Ergonomics Regulations, the HKE Department has embarked on reviewing its ergonomics training programme. We are pleased to announce that from 2021 we will be offering five stand-alone short courses that cover the principles of ergonomics in a variety of situations ranging from offices to various industries in the South African context. The contents covered in all 5 courses are aligned with the educational requirements set out by the Professional Affairs Board of the Ergonomics Society of South Africa at the Certified Ergonomics Associate level.
Application forms are available at the bottom of this page.
Participants who intend to register with the Professional Affairs Board as a Certified Ergonomics Associate will need to complete 60 hours’ worth of ergonomics projects. This course systematically takes participants through the process of a selection of ergonomics research studies and assessments.
Human Kinetics and Ergonomics Short Course application forms are linked below.
Short Course Application Form - RU
Short Course Application Form - HKE
Please download and complete both application forms for each course you which to participate in and submit them with a copy of your ID/Passport to m.mattison@ru.ac.za by the closing date.
Senior Lecturer and Head of Department
e-mail: s.wells@ru.ac.za
Phone: +27 (0) 46 603 8472
ORCID
Lecturer
e-mail: j.davy@ru.ac.za
Work: +27 (0)46 603 7369
Dr JP Davy Curriculum Vitae
ORCID
Researchgate
Google Scholar
ResearcherID
PO Box 94, Upper African Street, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa
+27(0) 46 603 8471
hke@ru.ac.za
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