During panel at ACED chaired by Masaaki Mochimaru, Chair of IEA AGS (standing at podium) with five AGS liaison and regional members: Yu-Chi Lee, Nana Itoh, Edwin Yap, Shin-ichi Fukuzumi, Chris-Kosuke Yamada
The Advisory Group on Standardization (AGS) was restructured in 2025 as an ad hoc group of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA), with Dr. Masaaki Mochimaru serving as chair. To enable the IEA to fully perform its role as a Category A liaison to ISO TC159, the Technical Committee responsible for developing standards related to ergonomics, AGS provides human factors/ergonomics experts active in the IEA’s Federated Societies with regular updates on TC159 activities. It also creates opportunities for discussion, consolidates diverse views on standardization, and submits recommendations to TC159. Since its restructuring, AGS has continued its activities for more than a year. During this period, its work has focused mainly on keeping human factors/ergonomics experts in the Federated Societies informed about ongoing standardization activities. Through this NewsBriefs, AGS has reported on TC159 activities. After publishing the first article in the October 2026 issue, AGS liaison members have introduced the outline and latest activities of each TC159 subcommittee and working group. This initial series has now completed one full cycle. From the next issue onward, AGS will begin providing successive updates on the latest activities of each SC and WG. In addition to reporting TC159 activities to IEA members, AGS has also begun creating forums for discussion with human factors/ergonomics experts in the Federated Societies. In March 2026, AGS introduced its activities at an international conference hosted by the Ergonomics Society of Taiwan (EST). In August 2026, at ACED2026 (Asian Council of Ergonomics and Design) in Singapore, IEA AGS organized a special session on international standards in ergonomics. The session was chaired by Mochimaru, Chair of AGS, and featured five AGS liaison and regional members, who presented the outlines and activities of TC159 subcommittees and working groups. A panel discussion was also held, incorporating questions from the audience [photo]. Looking ahead, with the cooperation of ULAERGO (La Unión Latinoamericana de Ergonomía), IEA AGS plans to organize another special session on international standards in ergonomics at ABERGO2026, the annual conference of the Brazilian Ergonomics Association, in November 2026.
TC159 is scheduled to hold its plenary meeting in London in conjunction with IEA2027. Numerous meetings of TC159 subcommittees and working groups are also expected to take place at that time. AGS also plans to organize a special session on international standards in ergonomics during the IEA2027 Congress, and we warmly encourage your participation.
For more information, contact m-mochimaru@aist.go.jp.
