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Ergonomics

I'm considering doing a degree in ergonomics, but I'm quite squeamish. Could someone studying this course please tell me how much of the course is in depth human biology.
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Fenhemn
Well I'm not on an ergonomics course yet, however I have just finished my degree in Psychology and have secured a place at Loughborough to do a Master's in Human Factors/Ergonomics. I didn't apply blind and have read a fair bit on the area so I have a decent enough idea to discuss the subject to an admittedly limited level.
Anyway, I have read many articles on human factors and ergonomics and there is actually very little in the way of human biology when studying ergonomics. Bare in mind that ergonomics is literally "the study of people's efficiency in their working environment". The things going on inside the human body are not the focus, although anthropological and cognitive processes must be considered. The point of ergonomics is to take into account factors that could impede upon human performance and work to reduce the potential for error, injury, or just inefficient work. One of my favourite examples to use when trying to explain to my friends what my course is on next year is to refer them to Air France Flight 447, which you may or may not remember from a few years back when it crashed off the coast of South America. Look that up on Google or Google Scholar and the reports are an excellent example of the importance of ergonomic consideration in design processes. The reports also explain how the design of the cockpit allowed for a situation of poor communication to develop between the pilots at a time of crisis and significantly reduced the chances of a recovery from an otherwise easily recoverable human error.
To sum up, I've been reading around the area for the last few years and have yet to come across an inclusion of human biology that extended to anything that could be considered difficult for the squeamish to handle. Best of luck with your applications.

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