OHS Management System: Risk Management
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Office Ergonomics
- Introduction
- Planning your work environment
- Choosing furniture and equipment
- Choosing the location of equipment
- Choosing the location of people
- Other considerations
- Workstation quick check - 7 Steps to Prevent Muscle Fatigue
- Templates & Resources
Introduction
Office workstations need to suit the work, the staff, and the space available. Choose designs that allow flexibility so that your workstation can be adapted to changes in your organisation.
Planning your work environment
Remember to consult with staff and do a risk assessment if you are planning changes to the workplace. It’s the law.
You should also:
- Identify current work
- Consider planned changes
- Do a needs assessment.
Identify what work is currently done
Gather information about current job demands. Useful sources of information will include:
- Employee duty statements
- Discussion with staff currently undertaking the work
- Observation
Are any changes planned?
Gather information about planned changes to jobs, roles or responsibilities. Useful sources of information will include:
- Organisation goals or forward plans
- Planned industry wide changes
- Discussion with staff currently undertaking the work
- Discussion with senior managers
Undertake a needs assessment
For effective planning you will need to know:
- How many workstations you need. Will any be shared?
- How much space is needed on the desktop for paperwork and computers.
- What other equipment needs to be accommodated including additional monitors, printers and scanners, fax and photocopiers.
- Do any duties require standing workstations?
- Do any workstations have privacy requirements e.g. lockable storage, or sound and visibility screening?
Choosing Furniture and Equipment
- Desks
- Chairs
- Other equipment
Desks
- 900mm depth is usually needed to accommodate a standard 15” or 17” monitor. If you have a flat screen monitor, 700mm is usually deep enough.
- Consider what tasks are done at the desk. Do you need space for computer use and for writing? Separate desktop spaces are required for computer based and clerical tasks. Is a standing desk required for tasks such as collating?
- Sliding keyboard trays housed under the desk are not encouraged. Most do no have space for a mouse so you tend to stretch and have bad posture.
- Height adjustable desks should be strongly considered. These are more flexible. They allow you to change your staff without needing to change your desk.
- Make sure your desk is not too thick. This allows your legs to be in a position to promote good posture. Less than 30mm is usually a good thickness.
- Check that there is enough leg space for the user. Desk legs or drawers should not get in the way. Remember, you may do different tasks at different places on the desk.
Chairs
- Support must be provided for the lower back. The backrest height and angle should be adjustable.
- Seat height must be adjustable. Tall people will need a different height seat to shorter people.
- Seat height should be appropriate to the task being done. For typing, you need to be at a height which allows your lower arm to be parallel to the desk. If you sit too low you hunch your shoulders. If you sit too high you will put increased pressure on your wrists.
- For most work, armrests are not recommended. Armrests can bump the desk forcing you to sit too far away. If your chair has armrests, make sure these are adjustable so they can slide under the desk.
- Look for well padded seats. Some offer sectioned padding to encourage better posture.
- Use castors only on carpet.
- Exercise balls or other unsupported seating is acceptable for short periods only.
Trial chairs before purchase. You may find you need a range of styles to accommodate all your staff.
There are Australian Standards for office furniture, which give you confidence that the furniture is suitable for most people and has been manufactured in conformance with Australian Standards for OHS, strength and durability.
Other equipment
You may also need to purchase:
- Document holders
- Footrests
- Telephone headsets
- Stands for laptops
- Ergonomic keyboards or mice.
Choosing the location of equipment
You also need to consider where you place equipment. In choosing locations you should consider natural work groups and tasks as well as the equipment itself.
- Printers and faxes should not be on a staff member’s desk. They should be in their own area, in a position central to the work group. Placing group equipment on one person’s desk encourages them to stretch and twist to use the equipment. There is also a deal of disruption when others want to use the equipment.
- Photocopiers are often large and noisy. The light and heat can also be annoying for staff. They should be positioned away from workstations.
- Desk equipment should be positioned to avoid twisting, bending and over-reaching. Keyboard and mouse should be immediately in front of you.
- Document holders are good for decreasing twisting of the neck. Touch typists should place document holders beside the computer screen. For ‘hunt and pick typists’, place the document holder between the keyboard and the screen.
- Place laptops on a stand and use a separate keyboard. This allows the screen to be at an appropriate height.
Choosing the location of people
When determining the position of workstations, consider the people. Grouping people at workstations should be based on:
- How does their work require them to interact?
- What are the noise considerations?
- Is privacy required?
- Do they need to be able to see or speak to each other?
Other considerations
- Lighting
- Noise
- Maintenance
Lighting needs to be considered
- Ensure adequate lighting of the workstation area and all access-ways.
- If workstations get natural light, ensure computer screens are placed so that they are perpendicular to the light source. Staff should not have to look into the sun when typing. They should also not have to cope with the sun creating glare on their screens.
Is noise an issue?
- If you have an open-plan office, you may need to provide some quiet areas.
- If you have a noisy piece of equipment, try to position workstations away from it.
Maintenance
One of the common sources of discomfort at a workstation is broken chairs. Office furniture should be adequately maintained. Your supplier can advise appropriate maintenance and expected life of your chairs.
Workstation quick check - 7 Steps to Prevent Muscle Fatigue
- Chair height adjusted so elbows just above desk height to prevent shoulder hunching
- Wrist posture relaxed
– straight (not up/down)
– not sideways - Neck position upright as much as possible:
– lift/angle source material up to reduce neck bending
– centre source material to prevent neck twisting - Telephone headsets prevent telephone tuck and neck/shoulder pain
- Screen height at/below eye level
- Screen lower for Bifocal wearers (or have single focus lens for screen based work)
- Chair backrest adjusted forwards to support back upright – reduces the afternoon slump
Templates & References
Office Layout and Work Design - this has suggestions for workstation design and office layout
Officewise - A guide to occupational health and safety in the office - a hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control approach to workstation design. The document covers aspects of job design, work environment and workstation layout and furniture. The document also has useful checklists to assist hazard identification and individual workstation set up.
Workplace Amenities Code of Practice 2001 - a guide for what amenities you should provide.
The Community Services Safety Pack - has a section covering what to consider when looking at new premises.
Ergonomic workstation design for keyboard operators