Job and Work Design is the organisation of tasks and activities in a workplace, while being mindful of their content and structure. The word design implies a conscious, considered and methodological approach to the arrangement of tasks, activities, and people within processes, teams, and locations that are organised to get a job done. However, most job and work design is done unconsciously or implicitly - workers may design and arrange their own tasks, workflows and workspaces, which is known as job crafting, which allows them to balance the control of their approach toward work with the demands of the job. This is most common in informal and creative industries. Where more formal methods of management are in place, such as those risk management frameworks used in health care, safety and protection protocols used in process engineering, or where the doing of work is informed by statute and common law, the work organisation may be more formal.
Taken conceptually, where work is designed consciously and unconsciously, the decisions that are made deliberately or situationally may introduce hazards or protect workers from them. When at work, workers experience demands on their bodies, being physical strain, cognitive engagement, and emotional investment from the tasks to which they are assigned. Broadly, these demands can be grouped together as job or occupational demands, which must be met by worker capacities and where those capacities are insufficient, that worker must be supported by organisational resources. Workers may address demands in ways that best match their capacities to those demands - this is job control, where workers are able to make decisions about how, where, and when they do their work. Job design provides an opportunity to balance worker demand and control to support health, wellbeing, and sustainable participation.
From a practical perspective, work design can refer to the organisation of tasks in a physical environment. A good example of this is a machine shop where metal must be lathed, milled, finished, welded, coated, and otherwise stored in order to meet shop demands and work bills. The physical arrangement of machines within the work area creates areas of transit, accumulation of noise, requires variable lighting, and influences the efficiency of the production chain. A restaurant kitchen is another example of a work area that requires organisation through design, where the arrangements of hobs, ovens, broilers, cuisine-specific apparatus like spits, friers, or hot globes, and the movement of workers in coordination between front and back of house create areas of movement, rest, interaction with the public, and concentrations of hazard. The physical arrangement of the environment creates concentrations of hazards which then must be mitigated, and the strategy of mitigation itself requires design and forethought to ensure appropriateness.
From an organisational perspective, work design can be used to organise and arrange teams and the workers within them. In contemporary office settings, work design frameworks can be used to coordinate meetings, free time, task time, hybrid and in office hours, as well as compensate with buffer flexibility for times of changed work demands such as busy seasons or holidays. Regardless of whether the implementation is practical or procedural, work design requires the conscious organisation of tasks and the consideration of workers' demands. This means that assessment, planning, and implementation should be undertaken with a view to workers' abilities and how these abilities may change with time.
Each workplace is different, with different demands, methods of business, and is staffed by people whose capacities, needs, and risk profiles are different. Managing ergonomic, environmental, and occupational health and safety challenges requires a business to examine and engage with the ecosystem of factors that give rise to risk, and how that risk may affect people. Each workplace is different and so sometimes the same problem will require different solutions. This applies to workers as well - every person is different and so may require different support, supervision, or resources to perform comfortably and sustainably. Under Work Health and Safety law, consultation with the workforce, the control of risk as far as is reasonably practicable, and the provision of information, training, instruction and support to the worker by the workplace, is essential to meet obligations to provide workers with a workplace that is as free of risk as far is reasonably practicable.
In our capacity as consultants, Atlas Physio will explore and scope the business and its needs, examining how exposures, risks, and processes contribute to the hazard ecosystem, best inform the design and arrangement of procedural, policy-based, and practical risk controls. Our solutions are tailored to the needs of those with whom we work, implemented in a simple, sustainable, and supportive fashion, designed to be robust and resilient, and to support the ongoing life of the business as well as the sustainable wellbeing of the workers who undertake the day to day activities of work.
At Atlas Physio, we provide reporting, structured control, and ongoing management of risk onsite, on the road, and wherever work is done. We are open seven days a week, and are happy to offer a brief complimentary discussion to explore the needs of your business and your workers if you are an employer, and your needs if you are a worker. Reach out today to arrange a discussion and take the first step toward managing risk and working safely, supported by expertise that is practical, reliable, and designed to deliver lasting results.