Workstations are places where work is done. They can be desks where computers, keyboards, and screens are arranged, they can be tills where cash and tender are exchanged, and they can be workbenches where tools are used to work on raw materials or conduct precision tasks. Workstations are useful because workstations organise environments for people and materials to be arranged efficiently, but sometimes the efficient arrangement of workers and work material in a workstation can create risks if the workstation is poorly arranged.
Workers all have different bodies that need to move and work in different ways depending on the work being done. Cutting, preparing, and sorting of food is typically done with the worker in standing, leaning over a kitchen surface, while entering data into a spreadsheet or reviewing technical information may more typically be done at a desk with the worker in a sitting posture, or a standing posture if the desk can be arranged in that way. The manner in which a task is done imposes demands on a worker which may be more or less easily met depending on the worker's body. Male and female-bodied workers, younger and older workers, workers who are more or less strong or coordinated may be more or less predisposed to injury based on the environment in which they exist. The problem may be further compounded for those workers who are working in hybrid environments where they spend some time in offices or at home, or workers who need to undertake site visits or other inspections in nonstandard or dynamic environments, like working in the middle of an active construction area or in transit on a road.
Poor workstation arrangement and design exposes workers to physical strain in the shoulders, neck, arms, and lower back, as well as other parts of the body that might be needed to work like the legs if pedals are being used. Over time, this strain may accumulate and result in the development of musculoskeletal disorders, like repetitive strain injuries, postural pain, back pain, or other discomforts that may arise quickly or slowly and otherwise impinge on the comfort of the individual undertaking the work. Often, these issues are not appreciated or understood, because they take time to arise. For this reason also, workers may compensate for poor workstation setup by adapting their postures and methods of work to compensate for differences between their physical capacity and the demands of the environment - anyone who's hunched forward over too-small type knows what this feels like.
In line with those recommendations regarding the management of risks as provided by the Hierarchy of Controls, workstations should be designed to consider the worker as well as the work, given that the fact that a worker must do some work and so it is impossible to eliminate the engagement of a worker with that work at a workstation. Too often, failure to consider the worker's capabilities, needs, and limitations results in a mismatch of person to process, and increases the risk of injury. Workstation assessment and arrangement should be undertaken to ensure that the arrangement of the area in which a person works does not impose additional demands on their bodies or their performance, and ideally supports their sustainable participation at work by addressing or offering alternative, constructive methods to manage differences in ability and demand. Sit-to-stand desks are a substitution of one posture for another, but do not engage with root causes from which differences between capability and demand arise. Engineering controls such as the installation of flexible monitor boom arms as well as the development of guidelines for workstation design as administrative controls may also be effective.
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.