Workin’ it – your guide to workplace ergonomics

A hybrid work model, allowing employees to split their time between working in-office and remotely, is popular among office professionals. While greater flexibility in our work lives is important, so too is ensuring both your home and office set-ups support good working habits.

Improper ergonomics at your desk set-up can lead to back, neck and shoulder pain, headaches and eyestrain. Repetitive movements with low muscle loading, such as keyboard typing or manoeuvring a computer mouse, can also strain the hand, wrist or arm, potentially leading to painful conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome if left unaddressed.

Adjusting your desk, chair, computer monitors, keyboard and mouse to suit your physical needs is key to preventing aches, pains, strains and muscle overload. This guide can help you create your ideal set-up.

A ‘deskercise’ routine can also help alleviate stiffness and soreness associated with sedentary work. If you’re unsure where to start, watch this video or review this stretching guide. Or if stretching is not your thing, you could consider adding a walking lunch break to your daily routine – which is great for your body and mental wellbeing.

Muscular injuries caused by lifting, handling, twisting, reaching for objects or moving patients are common among healthcare professionals, teachers, residential care workers and other community-oriented roles. On top of this, falls, slips and trips, sprains, strains and back injuries can often be prevented.

For this reason, interventions that focus on workstation set-up, safe patient handling, manual handling of objects (choose the industry specific to you), and awareness of slip and trip hazards can reduce your injury risk.

Similarly to community and personal service workers, machine operators and drivers are susceptible to injury from lifting, handling, twisting or reaching, as well as slips, trips and falls. Back, neck and shoulder pain, along with cramping in the feet, legs or hands are also potential consequences of prolonged sitting and poor driving posture.

Therefore, adjusting cabin seating for adequate postural and lumbar support is crucial. And ensuring that the loading and unloading space around vehicles is clear and well-lit while prioritising safe stock handling (refer to the ‘Transport, warehouse and stock handling’ industry section) is also a non-negotiable for worker safety.

Common injury triggers in this group of workers include muscular stress caused by handling items (such as tools), lifting, carrying or putting down objects, as well as falls, slips and trips, and stepping, kneeling or sitting on objects. Therefore, appropriate manual handling procedures (refer to the ‘Construction’ industry section) are a high priority for injury prevention.

Extended exposure to industrial noise on worksites also increases the risk of industrial deafness – highlighting the importance of wearing hearing protection along with other protective equipment, such as eyewear, gloves, high-visibility clothing and a hard hat.