Office safety and workstation assessments

These guidelines provide a brief account of the most important considerations for safe and effective use of workstation equipment.

Any staff member may request the WHS Unit to do an assessment of their workstation/worksite.

Staff can also use the  Workstation checklist to assist in assessing the suitability of their workstation setup.

You should bring any problems identified by this checklist to the attention of your supervisor for discussion.

Guidelines for safe work in the office environment

Overview

College Vice-Presidents and Executive Deans and Portfolio Heads should ensure that supervisors and users of workstation equipment are aware of these guidelines as they form part of the University Prevention Program for occupational overuse syndrome (OOS) injuries. Although the guidelines are closely related to screen-based equipment users, the ergonomic principles are a sound basis to apply to many tasks across the University.  For example, maintenance work conducted in a workshop areas or laboratory staff or users of other scientific equipment may be guided by these principles in the layout and organisation of their work. 

Many issues experienced world-wide regarding workstations and work areas, such as eye strain, musculo-skeletal disorders and other health problems, are due to lack of consideration of ergonomics either in the design of the work area and equipment, or the use of it.  Ergonomic principles need to be considered in the procurement and design phases of any product or space and includes five main elements1

• The characteristics of the user – physical dimensions, psychological and behavioural capacities, skills, knowledge and abilities all have an impact on how the product or space is used.
• Job and task characteristics – what the user of the product or space is required to do or actually performs, including task and time demands, capacity to make decisions, work organisation and time requirements.
• Work Environment – where the work takes place itself in terms of space and layout, lighting, noise and thermal comfort.
• Equipment design and the interface provided to the user – this includes the hardware and tools to perform the work such as electronic or mobile equipment, protective clothing and furniture.
• Work organisation – how work is scheduled, differences in work load, industry practices and the need to communicate and interact with others.

These guidelines were produced to assist management and staff control hazards that may lead to injury in the screen based environment. 

Note: The terms screen based equipment and visual display unit are used synonymously throughout this pages.

1 Australian Safety and Compensation Council (ASCC) 2006, ‘Guidance on the Principles of Safe Design for Work’, p. 6, ASCC, accessed from SafeWork Australia, 15 April 2016.

References

• Introducing Computer-based Equipment to the Workplace. Australian Information Industry Association Limited, 1985.
• Screen based Workstations - Part 2:Workstation Furniture. Australian Standard 3590.2-1990. Standards Australia.
• Visual Display Terminals. Cakir, A., Hart, D.J., Stewart, T.F.M., 1980. John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Great Britain.
• Ergonomic Principles and Checklists for the Selection of Office Furniture and Equipment. Australian Safety & Compensation Council 1991.
• Guidelines for the installation and Use of Screen Based Equipment at the University of Sydney. Risk Management Office. University of Sydney, 1988.
• National Code of Practice for the Prevention of Musculo-skeletal Disorders from Performing Manual Tasks at Work 2007.
• VDU's and Vision Information. Optomotrists Association Australia Booklet, 2000.
• Australian Safety & Compensation Council 2007.