A Review of the Ergonomic Aspects of Fitness and Sports Tools Located in Wellness Spaces

Background &

The existence of sports spaces in all parts of the world is considered a citizen's right, one of the activities that have been carried out in this field in recent years in the cities of the country is the installation of sports equipment in parks and encouraging citizens to use these equipment so that citizens can use them at the lowest cost. Performing sports activities has an important impact on the physical and mental health of people and, consequently, society, so every step that is taken in order to increase the possibilities of engaging in these activities is appreciated. The first park fitness machines were made in China in 1998 and were imported to Iran in 2004 and installed. In recent years, sports machines have been installed in public places, especially parks, which shows the attention of city officials to sports. In fact, installing sports equipment in parks is an effective step for the development of citizen sports. Although the use of equipment in parks is acceptable, it is more important to comply with scientific and technical standards. The devices in the parks are intended for physical fitness and do not have any therapeutic capabilities, so people with musculoskeletal problems should not use them to improve their disease. Aerobic exercises such as cycling or walking, muscle strengthening exercises, joint flexibility and balance are 4 important components in the health-oriented sports program in parks, and the devices should be designed and installed accordingly. While in many parks, these principles have not been observed, from the basic standards such as the installation of notice boards for each device to training on how to use them and relevant warnings. Studying in the field of ergonomics of fitness and sports tools located in wellness spaces is important to improve the health of society, therefore, based on this, the present study has been conducted with the ergonomic aspects of fitness and sports tools located in wellness open spaces.

The present study is a review study, in which a review of articles published in domestic and foreign journals available in SID, PubMed, Google Scholar, Magiran, Springer, Wiley, Web of Science (ISI), Scopus, Science direct, ProQuest was used in the range of years 2000 to 2022. Articles were searched using the keywords "ergonomics, sports equipment" and their English equivalents. The inclusion criteria included descriptive and analytical studies or descriptive or systematic reviews that had at least an abstract in Persian and in the period from 2000 to 2022. The exclusion criteria were the articles whose full text was not available in Farsi or English. The result of the initial search of the articles was 158 articles, after removing 84 duplicate articles in different databases, 74 articles remained; at the abstract reading stage, 43 were removed due to not meeting the entry criteria, leaving only 31 articles. In the next step, 14 articles were removed from the search circle due to the lack of access to the entire content of the article, and finally, 17 articles were selected in line with the purpose of the study. These 17 articles have been included in the study by having the criteria of word and intercourse with the goals of this article.

In order to achieve the main goal of the study, it seeks to answer the basic question of what are the ergonomic aspects of health and sports tools located in health spaces. In our country, there are few researches that deal with the issue of WMSDs from various aspects, and this type of work-related disorder remains unknown to some extent in terms of cost, prevalence, incidence, occupations involved, and effective risk factors. In industrially developing countries, including Iran, WMSDs are more acute and severe, because the process of mechanization and automation in advanced countries has partially reduced the pressure of physical activities on the individual and eliminated or controlled the risk factors of MSDs. In the reviewed studies, researchers have used ergonomic checklists as a tool to evaluate and identify workplace risk factors, and these checklists have been recognized as an effective tool in the ergonomic evaluation of workplaces.

Organizational health is the ability of the organization to maintain survival and compromise with the environment and improve these abilities. Some consider organizational health to be synonymous with mental health in the work environment and consider a healthy administration or organization as an organization that minimizes the level of depression, frustration, dissatisfaction, inactivity, and mental stress of employees. Some experts in the behavioral sciences of management, such as Warren Bennis, have considered administrative health as a measure of organizational performance. It is like a healthy organ, a healthy, adaptable, and growing organization. Some people consider organizational health to be a situation where all the factors of the organization have the ability to provide the goals of the organization optimally and can identify deviations from administrative and legal norms and obstacles to organizational goals as soon as possible and take the necessary and timely measures for Consider fixing them. Organizational health is not a new concept that only includes the organization's ability to perform tasks effectively, but also improves the system's abilities for growth, prosperity, and development. In a healthy organization, there are managers who are educated in every sense and committed and conscientious employees with high morale who love their work and are effective and useful people who become the dynamic of the organization. Some have also defined organizational health as the organization's ability to make correct, proper, and appropriate decisions. The results of these numerous studies have shown that ergonomic aspects are related to several factors, the most important part of which is satisfaction with facilities, educational and social dimensions, research and public facilities, and entrepreneurial opportunities. The development of ethical behaviors can create healthy relationships and communication in organizations increase the morale of employees and increase their level of performance, increase their loyalty and commitment, and justify the goals of the organization favorably. Which ultimately brings organizational health. It is morality that prevents unhealthy communication deceit and hypocrisy.