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The effects of music amplitude on participants' response time to randomly presented, unexpected, visual events were investigated. Ninety participants completed a motor-reaction task without music and with music played at 60, 70, or 80 dBA. Males preferred more intense music than females did, with males selecting a comfort level of 72 dBA and females, 66 dBA. However, participants' reaction time and the total time to respond to a randomly activated red light were independent of gender. All participants responded more quickly when the music was played at 70 dBA (close to their comfort level) than when it played at lower (60 dBA) or higher (80 dBA) amplitudes. It is proposed that people may react more quickly to visual events (e.g., the sudden appearance of a plane on the screen of an air traffic controller, or the unpredictable activation of a car's rear brake lights when driving) with music playing at a volume preset to maintain individual comfort levels against other situational background noise.

The goal of ergonomics is to fit the task to the individual, not the individual to the task. Practicing good ergonomics achieves increased productivity, improved health and safety of workers, higher job satisfaction and better compliance with government regulations. The general ergonomics principles that should be applied to the workplace include aiming for dynamic versus static work, optimizing work surface heights, avoiding overload of muscles, avoiding unnatural postures, and training individuals to use the workplace, facility, and equipment properly. This article further discusses several important components of ergonomics including anthropometry, seat design, manual materials handling, and focuses on most common musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) such as cumulative trauma disorders and lower back injuries.

The results suggest that the ageing population (particularly men) may face greater difficulty using an input device such as a mouse that relies on motions of the wrist. In addition, the reduced ROM of the wrist may put the elderly at greater risk of developing cumulative trauma disorders. The implications of these findings for the design of input devices are discussed.

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