If it makes your life a little easier or more comfortable, or it helps make you more efficient and accurate, odds are ergonomics was part of the design. And today, as the official launch of National Ergonomics Month, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) hopes you’ll recognize what ergonomics has added to your work and personal life and take a minute, or the whole month of October, to celebrate it.

No, it’s not really a champagne-popping event; rather, National Ergonomics Month was set up by the HFES as a means of building awareness for ergonomics and what ergonomics can add to almost every facet of society. Students, businesses, consumers and government have all been targeted by the HFES as prime audiences for learning more about ergonomics. While October 2003 marks the first-ever National Ergonomic Month, the HFES hopes that through on-going awareness and education, they’ll have introduced over 10 million adults and another 1.1 million students to the concepts that drive human factors and ergonomics by the end of the decade.

The official launch of National Ergonomics Month will take place at the 47th Annual Meeting of the HFES, beginning today in Denver, Colorado. To honor the event, Denver Mayor John W. Hickenlooper has declared October 13 through 17, 2003, “Denver Human Factors and Ergonomics Week.” The HFES meeting runs through October 17.