Ergonomics and Workspace

1. Ongoing management of ergonomics and workspaces

Actions for principals or delegates

To effectively manage workplace ergonomics and workspaces, and as part of an ongoing health, safety and wellbeing management approach, principals or their delegates must undertake the following actions outlined in this chapter.

Consult

Principals or their delegates must consult with school staff who are, or are likely to be, affected (such as school office or laptop-equipped staff) and health and safety representatives (HSRs), where elected, on ergonomic and workspace hazards, risks and controls, in accordance with the OHS Consultation and Communication Policy.

Document, monitor and review

Principals or their delegates must regularly monitor and review ergonomic and workspace hazards such as equipment, lighting and thermal comfort, risks and controls by implementing the OHS Risk Planning and Management Policy including activities in the OHS Activities Calendar, workplace inspections, risk assessments and maintenance of the risk register. These documents must be retained in accordance with the Records Management policy.

Manage hazards and incidents

Principals or their delegates must manage ergonomic and workspace hazards and incidents, including through eduSafe Plus, by implementing the Managing and Reporting School Incidents (Including Emergencies) policy.

Implement workplace adjustments

Principals or their delegates must ensure workplace adjustments are implemented where reasonable. They must also ensure that school staff have been provided with relevant information, instruction or training in the use of equipment such as ergonomic chairs and work practices. For further information on how to implement workplace adjustments, refer to the Disability and Reasonable Adjustments policy, Flexible Work policy and Working Alone, in Isolation or from Home policy.

Training

Principals or their delegates must ensure that all school staff have completed the mandatory eLearning module on LearnED (‘Hazardous Manual Handling and Ergonomics’), which must be completed as part of their induction and refreshed every 2 years and as required.

Actions for all school staff

All school staff must support ongoing management of ergonomic and workspace risks and hazards through:

• taking reasonable care for their own health and safety when setting up and using workstations and workspaces, and that of others, including safe use of equipment and reporting ergonomic hazards
• using supports available, including the workstation/workspace checklists to setup and assess their workstation
• notifying their principal or delegate if they have a pre-existing condition that affects their work capacity so that workplace adjustments can be implemented
• completing the mandatory eLearning module available on LearnED (as above).