Consultancy:

Historically, occupational health and safety have primarily been seen to be appropriate in an industry where hazards have been obvious and the injuries dramatic. Consequently, the focus has been on safety guards and personal protective equipment and a raft of regulations and codes of practice have emerged and evolved over time to protect the worker. However, the office environment has been deemed to be a safe workplace with carpet on the floors and nice pictures on the walls, how can anyone get hurt there

Consultancy:

Historically, occupational health and safety have primarily been seen to be appropriate in an industry where hazards have been obvious and the injuries dramatic. Consequently, the focus has been on safety guards and personal protective equipment and a raft of regulations and codes of practice have emerged and evolved over time to protect the worker. However, the office environment has been deemed to be a safe workplace with carpet on the floors and nice pictures on the walls, how can anyone get hurt there

Hazard Management:

Many opportunities exist for staff to deviate from safe work practices and expose themselves to the risk of injury. Daily work patterns and repetitive habits are formed from previous experiences and can lay the foundations for a gradual process injury. More often than not the risks are oblivious to the staff member whose attention is on achieving the performance requirements of their job.

Staff can often harbour computer health safety issues such as hand and wrist pain leading to RSI, OOS and carpal tunnel. An important feature of the Workplace Assessment (WA) is that the attention is placed on the staff member and their immediate workstation. While they may be provided with a so-called ergonomic chair and ergonomic workstation, the chances are….

• The end user has not been trained, and so has a limited ergonomics understanding
• The Accounts Dept. does not comprehend the equation…’Good Ergonomics = Good Economics’
• The Purchasing Dept. may rely on ‘well-meaning’ furniture sales reps to provide non-compliant workplace assets
• The WA can easily identify potential hazards and offer solutions to minimise risk. This is a one on one interview conducted in an empathetic manner.
• The course of the WA is mostly structured, however, the questions posed can identify aspects of the job which have not been analysed to any depth yet impact on productivity. These insights can lead to a better understanding of systems to offer solutions for improvement issues.
• Conducted as a verbal interview, baseline data is recorded and if a written report is required a concise written report is provided at extra cost

Who should use this service?

• Employers/Managers who suspect a staff member may be experiencing discomfort
• Employers/Managers considering the purchase of new office furniture or computer upgrade
• Employers / Managers planning to redesign or implement new systems and procedures
• Clients who commission the design of a new workstation (plant)
• Architects and Designers wanting Ergonomics Compliance Benefits
• Employers / Managers are actively interested in staff well being
• Staff members able to air concerns to an independent third party
• Early reporting of discomfort will speed recovery
• Simple tips learnt can immediately improve conditions
• Expose opportunities for systems improvement
• Purchase decisions can be made with confidence-
• OSH & ACC compliance obligations met

Ergostyle Staff Training Package – Mini Seminar

A group presentation which takes approx 60 minutes. Praised for its plain language and pragmatic approach, topics covered include:

• An overview of occupational health in NZ
• The insidious occurrence of discomfort in the office environment
• The importance of early reporting and self-management
• Workstation ergonomics, starting with the basics of chair set up and use. This is an interactive demonstration in which staff members bring along their own chair and go through an exercise to understand the ergonomic principles surrounding the workstation.
• Following on from the mini-seminar, the staff return to their own workstations for an optional individual worksite assessment. Armed with the knowledge of workstation ergonomics, the individual assessment can now be better interpreted, understood and responsibility can then be taken by the staff to test drive the changes suggested.

Benefits include:

• Confirm understanding from Seminar
• Hazard Identification
• Minor workstation changes
• Specific task analysis
• Early reporting of discomfort or symptoms
• Suggested modifications and equipment
• OSH Compliance