Wellbeing at work

People who spend long periods of time sitting or standing at a desk each day are prone to pain and discomfort related to poor workstation setup, poor work practices and equipment. Each member of staff at UC are responsible for ensuring that their workstation is set up properly and that they are using their workstation sensibly while taking reasonable steps to ensure their health and safety.

Ensuring your workstation is set up properly is important in preventing harm. So, whenever you change equipment, move offices, return to work from extended periods of leave or if you are a new staff member at UC the steps below should be follow: 

1. Complete the workstation self-assessment checklist with adjustments trialled. 

1. Complete the Safetyhub ergonomic videos 

Please refer to the Workstation assessment protocol for further information. 

To request further support (staff only) please refer to Worksation Assessments (Intranet) 

Residual health risks associated with an occupation require the University to implement a health monitoring programme. The risk of exposure to occupational health hazards determines the requirement for health monitoring.

Pre-employment (Baseline) Health Testing

Residual health risks should have been identified by a preferred candidate’s line manager and People & Culture Business Partner before an offer of employment is made. Prospective employees working in an occupation with residual risk of exposure must undergo pre-employment (baseline) health testing to ensure the prospective staff member is fit and healthy. Depending on the exposure and residual risk, health monitoring can include any of the following: lung function, chest x-rays, hearing, skin, and eye testing. The line manager and People & Culture Business Partner coordinate pre-employment health testing.

Health Monitoring

In some work groups, existing staff will be monitored because of a history of potential past exposures. New staff to those work groups may not require testing because the ongoing risk of exposure has been eliminated. So, just because one staff member in a group undergoes monitoring does not mean that all staff in that group require monitoring.

The Faculty or Department management and the Health and Safety Team decide which occupational groups or individuals require ongoing monitoring. 

The Health and Safety team coordinates health monitoring. Any queries regarding health monitoring should be directed to the Health and Safety Team.

Exposure Monitoring

As the nature of workplaces change, the related hazards in the work environment may also change. To see if the work environment is hazardous to workers, an assesment is carried out by an Occupational Health Professional/Hygeniest to identify whether the substances hazardous to health are in excess of the relevant prescribed exposure standard. 

If the concentration of substances hazardous to health is not certain on reasonable grounds the University must ensure that exposure monitoring is carried out in accordance with regulation 32 to determine the concentration.

The Faculty or Department management is responsible for exposure monitoring when the concentrations of a substance/hazard is not known. The Health and Safety team can support them in this.

Find out more in the Health Monitoring Protocol