Swiss Ergonomics Association (SwissErgo)
Websites :
https://www.xing.com/net/swissergo
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2828347
Registered Office
SwissErgo
Swiss Ergonomics Association
CH-3000 Bern
Switzerland
Sandrine Corbaz-Kurth (President)
president@swissergo.ch
Fabienne Kern-Bustamante (Vice President)
info@swissergo.ch
Samuel Schluep (Treasurer)
kasse@swissergo.ch
Monika O’Neil (Secretary )
monika.oneill@prevomed.ch
Charles Burckhardt (Board Member)
David Bozier (Webmaster)
webmaster@swissergo.ch
Recent Activities
Membership of SwissErgo remains fairly steady at around 150 people, despite the reduction of national training opportunities in ergonomics. A survey of the members conducted late last year revealed that the greater part of the members (around 80%) had tertiary level training, with almost 40% having a master degree in ergonomics. A further 25% had a tertiary level certficate in ergonomics. Many members were educated in ergonomics outside the country (42%). This is particularly noticeable in the French and Italian speaking parts of Switzerland. The majority (70%) work in occupational health and safety, with only 16% employed in usability or product design. About a third are self-employed as consultants. Most members have more than 10 years of experience in ergonomics. At present 30 members are certified European Ergonomists (CREE). Certification is popular in Switzerland and most members who qualify are certified. To improve the recognition of the profession by the Swiss occupational health and safety authorities the society approved changes to the Statutes early in 2018 that permit a classification of membership into professional members and ordinary members. Professional members are those with CREE certification or the equivalent education and experience. A system has been proposed to offer mentoring to people who wish to proceed towards professional status. In this system, interested people will be advised where their education is weak, and where they could obtain the necessary training to build up competencies in the weak areas. This system uses an unofficial network of tertiary training institutions that already offer some ergonomics components. Unfortunately, no institution offers all of the educational components necessary for professional certification; however, recent developments indicate that a Masters in Ergonomics may soon be offered again. In Spring this year a seminar was held to mark the 20th Anniversary of SwissErgo. Speakers were invited from France (Pierre Falzon), Germany (Thomas Alexander) and Italy (Elena Beleffi). SwissErgo would like to thank these people for their contributions that showed the diversity of the profession and areas for its future development.
Maggie Graf/24.07.2018
