Book excerpt: Our working conditions have undergone rapid and fundamental changes during the last few years. One example is the widespread use of the individual computer in the shop, office and home. Another major development is that women now hold many jobs that used to be in the male domain, and that many more women choose a life-long occupational career. Workforces, tasks, conditions and tools are changing. Many office and industrial workers are tied to human-machine systems. Repetitive work can create cumulative health problems such as the often reported visual strains, mental stress and physical injury. Proper ergonomic measures can avoid such harmful effects and instead promote health conditions which are both efficient and agreeable. In this latest edition of Fitting the Task to the Human, Professor Karl Kroemer has revised and updated the text and data while remaining true to the spirit of Professor Etienne Grandjean's earlier editions. This aim is, as before, to impart basic knowledge of occupational ergonomics in a straightforward and lucid fashion to those responsible for the design, management and safety of people in the workplace, and to those who study it.