Set up workstation to ergonomic requirements
Occupational health and safety (OHS) law 2
Employers’ duties 2
Employees’ duties 2
Workstation set up and OHS legislation 3
Occupational overuse syndrome (OOS) 4
Ergonomics 5
The workstation 5
The monitor 7
The chair 12
The keyboard 14
Basic computer maintenance: cleaning and maintaining computer equipment 17
Electrical hazards 18
Earthing strap 18
Cables 19
Connectors 20
Summary 22
Check your progress 22
Occupational health and safety (OHS) law
The law in New South Wales (and all Australian States and Territories) sets out the legal requirements for health and safety at work. The law describes the responsibilities of the various parties such as employers, workers, and people who supply equipment or chemicals to workplaces.
In NSW these requirements are mostly in the relevant legislation, that is, the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation 2001. Further requirements are set out in various codes of practice and standards referred to in the legislation.
Employers’ duties
The law requires employers to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of all their employees and other people at the workplace, including clients and visitors. This is referred to as the employer’s duty of care. To fulfil this duty, employers must ensure that the premises, machinery and equipment, chemicals, systems of work and the working environment are safe and without risks to health. Employers also have to provide such information, instruction, training and supervision as may be necessary to ensure the employees’ health and safety.
Employers in New South Wales must use hazard identification and risk control processes to fulfil these legal obligations.
Employees’ duties
Employees also have duties under the legislation. They must take care not to endanger their own or others’ health and safety. They must comply with the employers’ systems for ensuring health and safety, and they should take part in the hazard identification and risk control process. More information about OHS legal requirements can be found on the WorkCover NSW website at http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au
As a worker, you are entitled to expect safe and healthy working conditions, but you need to participate in arrangements made for health and safety in order to help create and maintain those good health and safety conditions. Success in managing health and safety risks depends on the participation and cooperation of all workers. By reporting OHS hazards and following procedures that have been established to protect health and safety, you can contribute to a workplace which is safer for everyone.
While the main responsibility for making sure that work activities are safe lies with the employer/owner of a company, there is a general expectation that employees work safely and take care in what they do so as not to put themselves or others at risk.
You can be expected to:
· follow procedures
· wear personal protective equipment (PPE)
· report any safety problems
· report incidents and injuries.
While you do have a role to play in creating a safe workplace and in keeping it that way, you will only be able to meet these responsibilities if procedures such as PPE and reporting systems are in place.
Workstation set up and OHS legislation
There is very little Australian legislation for the set up of workstations. Following is a list (of Australian and overseas information sources) where you can find related information:
· Australian Standard AS 3590.2-1990, Screen-based workstations; Part 2:Workstation furniture
· British Standard BS 5940: Part 1:1980, Office furniture, Part 1. Specification for design and dimensions of office workstations, desks, tables and chairs
· Health and Safety Executive (1991) Seating at Work, London: HMSO
· German Standard DIN 4551, 1975, Office furniture: Revolving office chair with adjustable back, with or without armrests, adjustable in height
· Ergonomic guidelines for use by the Australian Public Service, prepared by the RSI Task Force Implementation
· The Ergonomic Unit of WorkSafe Australia offers advice in their publication Ergonomic Principles and Checklists for the Selection of Office Furniture and Equipment
National Occupational Health Commission at: www.nohsc.gov.au has issued fact sheets entitled Workplace Layout and Design, Comfort at Work, Plant and Equipment Hazards, and Overuse Injuries
· The National Standard for Manual Handling and the National Code of Practice for Manual Handling give information regarding lifting and bending. These are standards that must be following when lifting and placing computer equipment during the set up stage.
Occupational overuse syndrome (OOS)
OOS, also known as repetition strain injury (RSI), is a collective term for a range of conditions characterised by discomfort or persistent pain in muscles, tendons and other soft tissues, with or without physical manifestations. It is usually associated with tasks which involve:
1 repetitive or forceful movement or both; and/or
2 maintenance of constrained or awkward postures.
(Definition from National Code Of Practice or the Prevention Of Occupational Overuse Syndrome, NOHSC, 1994)
Repetition involves repeating the same movement over a prolonged period, particularly when the action is undertaken in a hurry, in an uncomfortable position or when there are sudden increases in activity.
The amount of force required to undertake an activity and the amount of tension from awkward movements can contribute to OOS. The lack of rest breaks can worsen any condition that may lead to OOS.
Preventative and control measures include:
· setting work rates at realistic capacities for the individual
· providing a variety of work in the job design
· limiting fixed postures and highly repetitive movements by varying tasks
· increasing the number of shorter work pauses rather than having longer work pauses
· designing equipment for height, reach and tilt variations
· having a well-designed layout for free movement in the work area.
It is important to recognise when your body is stressed or suffering from muscle fatigue, and to give those muscles a rest. Periods of sitting should be interspersed with periods of walking and stretching.
Ergonomics
Ergonomics is the study of the interaction between humans and the working environment. It aims to promote the safety of workers. For example, making simple changes to work methods, equipment and layout can help to prevent OOS.
Ergonomics includes:
· the design and adjustment of support furniture
· the immediate surroundings of light, noise and temperature
· the scheduling of work loads.
When attention is paid to the ergonomic design of a workplace there are many benefits, including:
· increases in your work efficiency
· decreases in errors due to fatigue
· reduction of health and injury problems
· increase in work satisfaction.
The workstation
Careful placement of your desk and chair and keyboard, monitor and mouse are essential for a good working environment.
You need to position a keyboard, mouse and monitor so that your body isn’t placed under stress, especially as these devices are often used for long periods. The following diagram shows the correct way you should sit when using a computer. Notice how the monitor is positioned in relation to the person’s eye level.
Figure 1: Sitting correctly at a workstation
An ergonomically sound workstation is one that is set up specifically to meet the OHS needs of an IT worker. You may spend many hours sitting, gazing at monitors and keying in information, so if the equipment that you use is not set up correctly, it can cause OOS problems. The equipment you use may include the:
· monitor
· chair
· keyboard
· desk.
How you sit (your posture) and whether you move around (your mobility) also play a role in preventing OOS. However, it is currently believed that variety and movement are the keys to injury prevention rather than exact posture.
The monitor
The monitor (VDU or screen) is your page. If your monitor is poorly set up, it can cause eye strain. When sitting at your monitor, make sure that in general you can see all text and graphics on the screen clearly without having to peer at them, lean forward or strain.
The most important aspects of setting up the monitor to avoid eye strain are to make sure glare and reflections are not a problem. Eg, if a window is behind or in front, it can cause eye strain. So the position of the monitor in the room, and adjusting blinds or lighting to reduce or redirect strong light sources are important things to consider.
You can also make adjustments to the monitor control settings, such as contrast and brightness, and to font size and screen resolution — to improve the readability of text and graphics on a screen to suit your needs.
When setting up your monitor, you need to:
· position the monitor (or adjust other conditions in the room) to avoid glare and reflections on the screen
· check for screen flicker
· position the monitor at the correct distance and height
· set up, adjust and clean the display
· set up the display and screen resolution of your computer to facilitate comfortable viewing
· check again the lighting conditions and for any reflections.
Tiredness can also be caused by other problems with your workstation setup or poor posture. It can also result from long work sessions.
If you think you may have eyesight problems, it is important to get your eyesight checked by your doctor or an optometrist, as screen work tends to aggravate existing eye problems. If you normally wear glasses or contact lenses, you should wear them when working at your computer.
Practise setting up your monitor
1 Check your distance from the monitor
Eye strain can be reduced by working at the correct distance from the screen.
The ideal distance from your eyes to the monitor screen is as far away as possible, but close enough for work to remain legible and in keeping with good posture. This is generally further than the conventional 35 to 75 cm.
If you wear glasses, they should have this focal length. Reading glasses are generally unsuitable for monitor work, unless the screen is specially placed for their line of vision and focal length. The vertical orientation of the screen means that people with bifocals may have problems.
Creating distance between you and the monitor will also minimise your exposure to radiation and any potential danger this may cause.
2 Check the height of your monitor
Eye strain, back, neck and shoulder pain can be reduced by choosing the best height for the monitor.
How high your monitor is depends on your individual physiology and personal choice. Traditionally, monitors have been positioned so that the top of the screen is at eye height. This is the highest the monitor should be, and many people will find it more comfortable to have the monitor at a lower level. Generally the centre of the screen should be a maximum of 20 degrees below the horizontal line of vision.
You can raise the height of the screen with a phone book if required.
3 Change your display set up, if necessary
Eye strain can be reduced by selecting a two-coloured screen.
On a PC, select Start on the toolbar then Settings, then Control Panel and then Background.
On a Mac, select the apple on the toolbar, then Control Panels, and then Appearance.
If you spend many hours in front of a computer screen each day, a two-coloured screen (for example green on black) is less fatiguing to the eyes than a screen with many colours.
4 Change your screen resolution, if necessary
Eye strain can be reduced by adjusting the screen resolution and font size.
On a PC, select Start on the toolbar, then Settings, Control Panel and then Settings.
On a Mac, select the apple on the toolbar and then Control Panels and then Monitors and Sound.
You usually have some choice of screen resolution:
· 640 x 480 (basic VGA)
· 800 x 600 (basic SVGA)
· 1074 x 768
· 1280 x 1024, etc.
If you run at the higher figures, you may also have a choice of large fonts or small fonts.
Although higher resolution gives you more material on screen, which can be useful, some monitors can’t produce a sharp display at the higher resolutions. Even if they can, small fonts, however sharp, can be difficult to read.
Experiment with resolution and font size to find a combination that you are comfortable with for long working sessions.
5 Adjust the monitor brightness and contrast taking sharpness into account
Eye strain can be reduced by correcting contrast and brightness and having a clean monitor screen.
On a PC, your contrast and brightness settings are on the monitor.
On a Mac, select the apple on the toolbar and select Control Panels and then Monitors and Sound.
The main purpose of these controls is to adjust brightness and contrast for comfortable viewing, but on many cheaper monitors, these controls can also affect the sharpness of the screen display. If you turn the controls right up, you may find that characters become blurred.
Keep the screen clean. Dust and fingerprints reduce the effective sharpness and contrast of the screen and, over a long session, make it more likely that you’ll end up with some form of visual fatigue. It’s a bit like driving long distances with a dirty windscreen.
6 Avoid setting up the monitor with a light or a window behind you.
Eye strain can be reduced by having the screen at eye level and reducing ceiling light.
Tilting the screen upwards may also cause ceiling lights behind you to reflect on the screen.
If the lighting near your work space isn’t uniform, you may experience:
· ‘bright spots’ (such as artificial lights or a brightly lit window) in your field of view
· reflections on the screen which make it more difficult to resolve the actual screen contents so that your eyes have to work harder.
Some people are adversely affected by fluorescent lighting. It can exaggerate the effect of screen flicker. If you’re sensitive to this flickering, you should try to set up your workstation in an area where the lighting is natural or incandescent.