Ergonomics encompasses the things in the workplace that make you work more efficiently - from chairs and other furniture, lighting, color of the walls, and ambient ambient sounds.
Ergonomics is often paired with Human Factors as a discipline. This discipline deals with how people work and the environment to make people work more efficiently.
Most often this is applied to the area of physical ergonomics and has a domain that includes the proper height of a desk, posture in a chair, keyboard placement, and lighting in the work area - though this is far from an exhaustive list.
Of primary concern for those specializing in ergonomics is the prevention of repeat stress injuries such as carpal tunnel and other work related disorders (sitting in a poor chair for too long) that are categorized as work related musculoskeletal disorders which can negatively impact an employee's productivity.
Further reading:
- Human factors and ergonomics at Wikipedia
