Ergonomic hazards
Ergonomic hazards – factors in your environment that may cause discomfort or strain – are common within office environments but can be found in many workplaces. They are not always immediately obvious, making them difficult to detect.
Depending on severity and level of exposure, improper workstation set-up, poor posture, awkward and repetitive movements and incorrect manual handling can cause anything from sore muscles to long-term illness. As an employer, you must do everything reasonably practicable to protect employees from this risk.
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Manual handling, lifting and carrying, and keyboard work are some of the prime causes in the development of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), particularly back pain.
With latest HSE statistics revealing that MSDs are the second highest cause of occupational ill health – responsible for 7.3 million working days lost annually – ergonomic hazards can be costly if left unmanaged. If you don’t have access to a competent health and safety person in house, Ellis Whittam’s outsourced support can help.
- Get a full audit of your compliance with an on-site health and safety audit (General Risk Assessment)
- Ensure relevant ergonomic hazards such as DSE, manual handling and vibration are managed effectively with consultant support
- Continue to meet your responsibilities with unlimited advice from a named Health & Safety specialist
- Save time with expert-created templates, including a DSE Assessment Form, from our full-version Knowledge Hub available via MyEW
- Expert online or classroom training to raise awareness of DSE risks and equip employees to undertake a DSE self-assessment
Reduce the risks from remote working
Ergonomic hazards are often a result of the way a space is designed, meaning that planning ahead and thinking about how employees interact with their work space is crucial. As many organisations make the transition to more permanent homeworking arrangements, it’s important to remember that your duty of care extends to anyone working remotely.
With a recent survey revealing a significant increase in musculoskeletal complaints amongst homeworkers, it’s important to conduct a Homeworking Risk Assessment to consider aspects of employees’ workstation set-up and give further thought as to what measures will need to be introduced to mitigate risk. Of course, homeworking presents other risks, such as isolation, stress and fatigue.
Popular FAQs
What is a DSE Assessment?
A DSE Assessment is a systematic way of identifying issues with the workstation set-up. A basic or standard assessment is suitable for most people. Someone who is experiencing pain or who has a specific need may to consider an advanced or specialist assessment.
When is a DSE risk assessment required?
Ongoing assessment and management of the risks associated with DSE is vital. A DSE risk assessment should be undertaken whenever a new workstation is set up, when a new user starts work, and whenever there is a significant change to personnel, working practices, office location, or the equipment itself. Risk assessments should also be repeated if there is reason to suspect that they may no longer be valid – for example, if a DSE user reports that they are experiencing pain or discomfort.
What health problems can DSE cause?
While using DSE may appear to be a relatively harmless task, over time, a poorly-designed work station and/or bad work habits can result in serious health problems, including musculoskeletal problems (conditions affecting the joints, bones and muscles), difficulties with vision and mental stress.
Is health and safety needed in an office?
Health and safety law applies to all organisations, so while you might not consider health and safety to be an immediate priority for office-based professional services businesses, a serious accident could have profoundly negative effect on annual profitability through costly absences, lost business and even fines. Remember, all employers, regardless of size or sector, must have access to one or more competent persons to help them meet the requirements of health and safety law. If you don’t have somebody suitable within your organisation, the HSE advises that you can appoint an external Health & Safety company such as Ellis Whittam to help and advise you.
What is manual handling?
Manual handling refers to any workplace activity that involves lifting, carrying, lowering or otherwise carrying or moving a load by hand or bodily force. According to the HSE, manual handling tasks are responsible for a third of all workplace injuries. While more common in physical jobs, office workers will likely undertake some form of manual handling in the course of their role, such as when transporting heavy equipment, moving supplies from place to place, and taking in deliveries. It’s important that these tasks are properly managed, and that staff are trained in safe manual handling techniques, in order to reduce the risk of injury to a person’s back, neck or spine.
How can employers control the risks from manual handling?
If manual handling cannot be avoided, then you must conduct a suitable and sufficient risk assessment and implement practical controls or safe systems of work to reduce the risks you have identified to as low a level as possible. This might include splitting heavy items into more manageable loads and making sure employees receive training on how to safely lift items and use any provided lifting equipment.
What does the law say about preventing musculoskeletal disorders in the workplace?
Several pieces of legislation attach legal responsibilities to employers in relation to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). In addition to a general duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations require employers to assess the risks to the health and safety of their employees while at work, while the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 and Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 place specific requirements on employers to manage the risks arising from activities that have potential to cause MSDs.
What are musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)?
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) cover a variety of strain, sprain and overuse problems that affect the body’s muscles, joints and nerves. The resulting ache, pain and discomfort includes everything from backache and slipped discs to upper limb disorders, inflammation of tendons, and numbness, swelling and tingling in the hands and wrists. Back disorders are the most prevalent, resulting in 2.8 million working days lost in 2018/19.
What's included in our fixed-fee Health & Safety support
Accident and Incident Investigation
An accident in the workplace is every employer’s worst nightmare. We can help to guide your investigation, advise on corrective action and protect your interests in the event of regulatory enforcement.
Can you help us prepare an accident investigation report?
Yes. This can be tricky to get right, especially as once you reach conclusions and set out the actions you have taken, the document is disclosable to the other side in the event of a personal injury claim or prosecution. We’ll help you stick to the facts, keep opinion separate, and make sure the report is presented in a way that protects your best interests and, most importantly, identifies the things that need to be put right to prevent reoccurrence.
We have been written to by the regulator regarding a health and safety incident. Can you help?
Yes. In the event of a serious accident or emergency, we will support your investigation and advise you on your communications with the enforcing authority. We will be there to help mitigate damage, guide you and support you. If you have received a letter from the regulator, we can help you to formulate a response until legal advice is required, in which case (if you have chosen to take it) our Legal Expenses Insurance is activated.
Advice Line
Whether you’re facing an immediate crisis or just in need of an expert second opinion, get sensible, proportionate and practical advice at any time with our unlimited advice line support.
Who will I be advised by?
At Ellis Whittam, we’re big believers in a personal approach. That’s why we assign each of our clients a named consultant, with who will become your main point of contact for advice, guidance and support on all health and safety matters. If you take up our full Health & Safety service, your consultant will also be the one to conduct your health and safety audit and produce your policy and handbook. This means you’ll receive consistent advice from a dedicated expert who truly understands your organisation’s safety system, arrangements and goals.
What if my consultant isn’t available?
If, for whatever reason, your dedicated consultant isn’t available when you call, our office-based Helpdesk Team will be able to resolve most issues for you or direct you to the relevant guidance or template you need via our Knowledge Hub. If you have a particularly urgent or technical query, our Helpdesk Team can triage this to another expert within our team. Rest assured you’ll never be left without support.
Audit and Inspection
From a policy that isn’t being executed properly to a procedure or risk assessment that’s out of date, we can conduct a thorough examination of your premises, practices and procedures to identify and remedy any areas where you’re exposed.
What form does the audit take?
There are a number of different models and templates for conducting health and safety audits. Most commonly, and the approach we adopt at Ellis Whittam, is what’s known as a General Risk Assessment (GRA). This is a systematic examination of your workplace to identify possible causes of harm, the likelihood and severity of that harm occurring given the safeguards already in place, and any further control measures needed to reduce risk to as low a level as is “reasonably practicable”.
Will you just provide a report of the issues identified?
No, we report on both compliant and non-compliant areas, and the report will provide clear solutions and recommendations to address particular areas of concern. Unlike some providers, we won’t insert default ‘corrective action required’ responses unless it is absolutely clear what you need to do; we edit to provide clarity. Plus, if you have any questions or concerns, your dedicated Health & Safety Consultant will be more than happy to assist.
Become Your Competent Persons
We’re so confident in our ability to manage your compliance that we’ll even act as one of your legally-required competent persons, which all organisations must have access to by law in order to meet the requirements of health and safety legislation.
What is a competent person?
Put simply, a competent person helps an organisation to comply with health and safety law and take all reasonable steps to keep people from harm. This will be one or more persons who have the ability to recognise the health and safety risks associated with your organisation and identify sensible and proportionate solutions. The meaning of competent person can be found in Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. This states that “every employer shall, subject to paragraphs (6) and (7), appoint one or more competent persons to assist him in undertaking the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him by or under the relevant statutory provisions and by Part II of the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997.”
Why would I appoint somebody external to my business?
Will the individual you appoint as your in-house competent person be able to dedicate enough time to this responsibility? They might know your organisation inside and out, but do they have the necessary skills, knowledge and training to keep you compliant? Do they have a working understanding of health and safety legislation and how it applies to your organisation? Appointing an impartial person, external to your organisation, gives you access to technical expertise and the benefit of hands-on experience, and brings structure to the way you manage health and safety. We’ll help you to set up an effective safety management system, show you what good looks like, and give you clarity over what you need to be doing.
eLearning
Taking time out for employee training isn’t always possible. Nevertheless, as an employer, you want to know that your staff are fully equipped to undertake their duties confidently and safely – and that your organisation is protected – without affecting productivity or spending a fortune.
A convenient and powerful alternative to classroom-based training, our online eLearning courses incorporate videos and interactive testing for impactful and engaging employee training.
What types of courses are available?
Our ever-growing library of eLearning courses currently covers over 100 topics, including HR courses such as Equality & Diversity, Sexual Harassment and Social Media Use; soft skills courses such as Communication, Leadership and Change Management; and compliance courses such GDPR, Anti-Money Laundering and the Bribery Act. We also offer an extensive range of Health & Safety courses, including Accident Reporting, Risk Assessment and First Aid. Download the full course brochure.
How much do the courses cost?
All of our eLearning courses are free for the first year when you purchase our Employment Law & HR or Health & Safety managed service. This means you’re not paying per head or per course, which not only keeps down but gives you complete cost certainty over your training expenses. This is particularly handy if your workforce is growing, as you won’t need to purchase extra licenses, giving you exceptional value for money.
Legal Expenses Insurance
An optional element of our fixed-fee Health & Safety support, our FCA-regulated Legal Expenses Insurance (LEI) can cover against the commercial ramifications of a serious safety incident.
What happens if there’s an accident in our workplace? Is it likely we will be fined?
Most reportable accidents in the workplace are not followed up by the regulator, but if they do take an interest, you are more likely to be subject to some sort of enforcement action being taken. This may be an enforcement notice or Fee for Intervention (FFI) breach. Alternatively, it may be the start of criminal proceedings that end up in court, the cost of which can be significant.
Does LEI include legal representation?
Yes. If you choose to defend the claim, our LEI includes legal support right the way through a case, including barrister’s costs. Here, there will be a prospect of success assessment; the likelihood of an acquittal will need to be more than 50% in order to be covered by the LEI. However, if you’ve followed advice from your dedicated Ellis Whittam Health & Safety Consultant, there’s no reason why you wouldn’t be covered in this situation. In reality, if we have identified an issue and you’ve taken the corrective action we recommended, you shouldn’t find yourself in this situation in the first place.
SafetyNest Software
Our innovative Health & Safety Management Software will revolutionise your approach to safety management by creating smart “to-do” lists, cutting out the admin and allowing you to monitor your compliance at a glance.
How can SafetyNest help me?
Our SafetyNest software can transform how you manage health and safety. By turning heavily-administrative, time-consuming tasks into automated processes, it will increase standards and efficiencies across your organisation and free up valuable time. By being able to monitor your compliance at a glance, you’re not left in the dark about how you’re performing and can quickly and proactively identify what action is needed, reducing the potential for an incident and giving you peace of mind. It can also be instrumental in demonstrating compliance to the regulator, increasing your chances of a stress-free inspection.
What exactly is a ‘risk status indicator’?
One of the main benefits of our Health & Safety Software is that you can see, at a glance, exactly how you’re performing and what needs to be done to maintain compliance. When you log in, you will immediately see your Current health status, which gives you visibility of all sites and their current RAG status for ‘Audit’, ‘Registry’, ‘Monitoring’ and ‘Risk assessments’, as well as Location monthly health status, which allows you to select a site and see the progression of the RAG status in any given time frame.
Policy and Handbook
Whether you’ve got nothing in place or are in need of an expert review, our Health & Safety specialists can provide you with a policy and handbook tailored to your organisation, processes, activities and environment.
Who will the Health & Safety Policy be written by?
Your Ellis Whittam Health & Safety Policy will be written by an experienced Health & Safety Consultant with recognised qualifications and technical expertise. If you take up our core Health & Safety service, this person will become your dedicated consultant for all health and safety matters – meaning the advice you receive will be consistent and based on a genuine understanding of your business. Plus, for any questions or areas of your policy that require specific technical expertise, as well as support from your named consultant, you’ll be able to rely on a nationwide team of experts with vast and diverse specialisms and experience.
What sections will it include?
Your Health & Safety Policy will be based on the principle of plan, do, check, act. It will include a statement of commitment describing how the business is organised to fulfill its legal responsibilities (refined to reflect post holder titles), followed by an arrangements section covering all risk areas that are relevant to the business and how they will be managed (contractors, fire, first aid, machinery maintenance, lone working, etc.). For each, it will follow a format of “we recognise”, “we will” and “the approach we will take is…”. It will also cover the importance of risk assessment, monitoring and review.
Risk Assessment
Risk assessment is a fundamental element of health and safety management. Get an expert steer on formulating assessments for specific risk areas such as DSE, manual handling, COSHH and fire safety.
Is a risk assessment a legal requirement?
Yes. Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, all employers, regardless of size or sector, must undertake a “suitable and sufficient” assessment of the health and safety of risks their employees are exposed to while at work, as well as the risks to any non-employees (customers, visitors, contractors, etc.) who may be affected by their activities. If you employ five or more employees, it is a legal requirement to keep a written record of your assessment and significant findings. If you’re not sure where to begin with risk assessment, we can help you.
We have an in-house health and safety team, but they haven’t had formal risk assessment training.
Risk assessment is the foundation of an effective safety management system, yet many individuals with this responsibility have not been taught the basic principles of how to conduct a risk assessment and what the law expects. This can result in an inaccurate estimation of risk, which may lead to certain control measures being recommended that are not necessary or, worse, control measures not being identified or implemented. If you are keen to make sure this essential task is being done properly, our expert Health & Safety Team can devise a risk assessors training package to develop internal competence.
Why choose us?
Experts in Health & Safety support
If you’re not confident in your current practices, or don’t have professional support in place, our network of qualified Health & Safety Consultants can help you to build a safe and compliant working environment through expert support tailored to your organisation.
- Approved by a Primary Authority
- Dedicated specialists with recognised qualifications
- Genuine hands-on experience of managing risk
- Unlimited 24/7 advice, award-winning software and policy support
- The confidence to act as one of your competent persons
Who you’ll be working with
Toyah Marshall
Principal Employment Law Adviser
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