Irish Ergonomics and Human Factors Society (IEHFS)

Officers

Chairperson
Dr Marie Ward, MIHFES
Health Systems Learning and Research, St James’s Hospital.
Adjunct Assistant Prof. Centre for Innovative Human Systems, Trinity College Dublin.

Treasurer
Ms Bridget Masterson, MIHFES
IR5-1-C11 EHS Department
Intel Ireland
Collinstown Industrial Estate
Leixlip
Co. Kildare
Ireland

Secretary
Dr Diego Estrada-Lugo, MIHFES
Technical University Dublin
Grangegorman
Dublin

Comunications Officer
Dr Mahnaz Sharafkhani, MIHFES
Post-Doctoral Researcher, St. James’s Hospital, Dublin
Visiting Researcher, Centre for Innovative Human Systems, School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin

Fact sheet

  • Established: Formerly launched in 1994 but started as an informal group in 1984
  • Approximate number of members: 70
  • Approximate number of certified HFE professionals: 32 (4 fellows and 28 registered professionals)
  • Website: https://ihfes.org/
  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/2705865/

About IHFES

The society started off as an informal group in October 1984. In March 1985 the group was accepted as a Regional Group of the Ergonomics Society (U.K.). The Group ran seminars once or twice per year and was involved, from 1985 onwards, in the development of the ideas and processes for the title “European Ergonomist”. The aim was to provide the mechanism for establishing and controlling a recognised professional level for Ergonomists throughout Europe, in order to provide mobility between member states and to protect the public from those who are unqualified and/or not competent. The standards were agreed in 1992 and provided the mechanism for the Irish Ergonomics Group to become a fully Irish society.

A constitution was approved at an AGM in March 1993 and the Irish Ergonomics Society (IES) was formally launched on 5th March 1994 and, later that year, held its first Annual Conference at the University of Limerick. IES was admitted to the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) as an Affiliated Organisation at its 12th Triennial Congress in Toronto on 14th August 1994. This made it the officially recognised society for Human Factors and Ergonomics in Ireland. The IES became a Federated Member of the IEA in August 1995.  At an AGM on the 6th June 2019 the name of the Society was amended to the Irish Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (IHFES) to reflect the international practice.

Overview of IHFES activities

IHFES aims to pursue and promote work on a range of issues (e.g., social and organisational issues, control room design, musculoskeletal injuries, human reliability, training, and health and safety) across the 32 counties in Ireland and to maintain close involvement with HFE developments at a European level.

While it does not certify HFE professionals directly, the IHFES serves and supports its members by establishing relationships with strategic organisations as well as organising events and providing platforms where members can network and share ideas. Details about some of the activities that IHFES is involved in are provided below:

  • The IHFES hosts an annual conference and publishes the proceedings. Previous conference proceedings can be found here: https://ihfes.org/publications/
  • The IHFES has a good working relationship with the UK Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF) with some of the IHFES committee members also serving in CIEHF special interest groups.
  • The society provides monthly Lunch N’ Learn seminars for members. See https://ihfes.org/ihfes-events/
  • IHFES makes HFE inputs and provides advice with regard to relevant standards, educational courses, safety and health activities, and government initiatives.
  • The IHFES has a close relationship with the Irish Health and Safety Authority (https://www.hsa.ie/) and the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists (https://www.iscp.ie/).

IHFES Membership

There are three routes to becoming a registered member of the society:

  1. Subject matter expert by way of holding a Ph.D. in a Human Factors/Ergonomics subject plus normally two ISI peer reviewed journal papers as first author.
  2. Graduate from a recognised qualifying taught Master’s degree.
  3. Human Factors/Ergonomics Competency assessment: applicants who have completed a Master’s qualification (NCTE level 9) and obtained skills through non-recognised qualifying programmes can consider two routes to entry based on their level of Human Factors Ergonomics competency.

Affiliate membership is open to anyone who has an interest in the application of Human Factors Ergonomics. Associate membership is open to anyone who has a third level qualification in a subject area that interfaces with Human Factors Ergonomics. A Fellow is normally a registered member of the IHFES for a minimum of 10 years and has made an important contribution to the Society/Discipline.

The IHFES membership registration form can be accessed here: https://ihfes.org/registration/