There are a number of duty holders who have a role in managing the risks of hazardous manual tasks.

These include:

  • persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU)
  • designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers of plant, substances or structures
  • officers
  • workers, and;
  • other persons at the workplace.

Early consultation and identification of risks can allow for more options to eliminate or minimise risks and reduce the associated costs.

Understanding your duties

Employers and/or person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must manage risks to health and safety relating to a musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) associated with a hazardous manual task.

See Regulation 60 of the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Regulation 2012

To manage MSD risk, an employer/PCBU must:

  • identify hazards that could give rise to the risk
  • eliminate the source of risk, so far as is reasonably practicable
  • if not reasonably practicable to eliminate the risk, minimise the risk by implementing control measures in accordance with the hierarchy of controls.
  • maintain the control measure so that it remains effective
  • review risk control measures.

PCBUs have a duty to consult workers throughout this process. Workers often have the best understanding of the work demands an what could help to improve work tasks.

PCBUs also have a duty to consult, cooperate and coordinate with other duty holders such as other service providers, facilities maintenance and contractors to improve work tasks and manage MSD risks.

Further, PCBUs have a duty to provide sufficient and adequate information, instruction, training and supervision to workers relevant to their work tasks.

For general duties of PCBUs refer to – Employers responsabilities and primary duty of care.

Designers, manufacturers, importers, and suppliers of equipment and structures must ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, that any structure or plant are designed to eliminate the need for a hazardous manual task to be carried out in connection with them.

See Regulation 61 of the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Regulation 2012

Design of a workplace

Designers of workplace buildings should consider the hazardous manual tasks that may be performed throughout the lifecycle of the building, including:

  • construction and commissioning
  • use and emergency response
  • maintenance
  • refurbishment
  • potential demolition.

Some types of workplaces that carry out a high level of hazardous manual tasks will require specific design requirements to eliminate and minimise the risk of MSDs. Examples of these workplaces are:

  • hospitals
  • nursing homes
  • manufacturing and processing facilities
  • warehouses
  • distribution centres.

Read more: Safe design of structures – Code of Practice 2018

Design of plant

The safe design of plant can play a critical role in reducing the risk of injury for workers. When designing plant, consider all phases of its life, including:

  • manufacture
  • cleaning
  • servicing and maintenance.

If practicable, trial a prototype in a range of operating conditions and think about how the plant will be used and any foreseeable misuse. Change any aspect of the design that increases the risk of injury.

Read more: Managing the risks of plant in the workplace - Code of Practice 2020

Officers, for example company directors, have a duty to exercise due diligence to ensure the PCBU complies with the WHS Act and WHS Regulations. This includes taking reasonable steps to ensure that the PCBU has and uses appropriate resources and processes to eliminate or minimise risks from hazardous manual tasks.

Further information on who is an officer and their duties is available in the Interpretive Guideline: The health and safety duty of an officer under section 27.

Workers have a duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and to not adversely affect the health and safety of others. They must comply with any reasonable instructions and cooperate with any reasonable health and safety policies or procedures that have been communicated to them. This could include user fit-for-purpose equipement.

If personal protective equipment (PPE) is provided, workers must use or wear it according to the information, instruction, and training provided, as far as they are reasonably able.

For general duties of workers refer to – Workers responsibilities

Other persons at the workplace, such as visitors, must take reasonable care for their own health and safety and must take care not to adversely affect other people’s health and safety.

They must comply, so far as they are reasonably able, with reasonable instructions given by the PCBU to allow that person to comply with the WHS Act.

The Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2020 provides guidance on how to manage the risks associated with hazardous manual tasks and control the risks of workers being affected by musculoskeletal disorders.

Following the code of practice will assist the duty holder to achieve compliance with the health and safety duties in the WHS Act and WHS Regulations, in relation to hazardous manual tasks.

Further information