Your leaders, such as executives and directors, are legally required to prioritise and commit resources to manage MSD risks. This involves:

• Maintaining up-to-date knowledge of work health safety matters, including physical and psychosocial risks in the workplace that may lead to MSDs.
• Providing and enforcing systems and processes to manage risks, such as following the risk management process for managing manual tasks.
• Allocating sufficient resources to manage risks, such as buying lifting aids.
• Setting and monitoring specific business targets that focus on MSD prevention. For example, leaders could track the effectiveness of MSD risk controls by measuring the number of hazards eliminated.

Frontline managers should also facilitate ongoing discussions with workers to drive genuine participation in MSD risk management.

Effective MSD risk management requires active consultation between management, workers, and others such as Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs). Businesses must provide multiple ways to share information regularly, allowing both parties to raise issues and exchange feedback on possible solutions.

Workers are familiar with their job demands and potential safety hazards. They can identify WHS issues and suggest practical solutions to control MSD risks. This input enables businesses to make more informed decisions about safe work practices. Businesses must also consult other duty holders such as designers, importers, and suppliers in MSD risk management. Open communication and collaboration with stakeholders can help address safety concerns and develop effective control measures.

Read the SafeWork NSW Code of Practice for Work Health and Safety Consultation, Cooperation, and Coordination to learn more about how to enhance workplace safety using effective consultation.

Identify and control the source of MSD risks before an injury occurs. Leaders can effectively identify MSD risks through:

Worker consultation:

Engage with your workers and health and safety representatives to identify MSD risks. Ask targeted questions to uncover any concerns or hazards they are aware of, such as:

• What tasks do you find physically demanding, tiring, awkward or uncomfortable to do?
• Which tasks or work areas are you most concerned about getting injured from?
• Are there any psychosocial hazards impacting your work (for example, poor workplace relationships, lack of support, or role overload)?
• Have you experienced any near-misses or incidents that could have resulted in an MSD?

Workplace inspection:

Observe work processes and environments to identify physical and psychosocial hazards. Focus on:

• Work tasks: Evaluate how tasks are performed, including how often and how long workers are exposed to specific postures, movements, forces and vibration.
• Work design and management: Assess how work is organised and managed, including any mental or emotional demands.
• Tools and equipment: Examine the tools, equipment, and objects handled.
• Physical environment: Inspect the physical work environment for potential hazards.

Review available information:

To identify potential hazards and trends related to MSDs, examine the following sources:

• Workplace Incident Records: Review records of injuries, illnesses, and near-misses to identify patterns and recurring issues.
• Reports from Workers and Others: Consider hazard reports, complaints, and feedback from employees, contractors, and visitors to gather insights on potential risks.
• Internal Inspection Reports: Analyse audits, surveys, and other internal inspection documents to uncover hazards that might not be linked to reported incidents.

Not all hazards are linked to reported incidents, so it is crucial to gather and evaluate a variety of data sources to obtain a comprehensive understanding of potential MSD risks in the workplace.

Conduct a risk assessment in consultation with workers for any identified MSD risks, unless the risks are well known and have well established control measures.

When assessing the MSD risks, consider:

• What is being handled: Pay attention to the nature, size, weight, or number of items, persons, or animals being handled.
• How the work is handled: Evaluate task design and its interaction with other tasks.
• Where the work is done: Assess the design and layout of the work area and workplace environmental conditions.
• Who is doing the work: Match the work to the worker’s physical capability and skill levels, not the other way around.
• Support provided: Ensure adequate management and supervisor support by addressing safety concerns and providing resources.

Generic tools such as a likelihood and consequence matrix may not effectively assess MSD risks, as MSDs often result from cumulative exposure to multiple risk factors. Refer to our MSD resources for tools and guidance material to assess MSD risks.

When controlling MSD risks, it's crucial to follow the hierarchy of control:

• Eliminate hazards at the source, where reasonably practicable.
• If elimination is not possible, minimise risks through substitution, isolation, and engineering controls. Use administrative controls, followed by personal protective equipment (PPE), to minimise any remaining risk.
• Use a combination of control measures to effectively manage MSD risks. Prioritise higher-level controls, while using administrative controls such as job rotation and task-specific training to complement them.
• Regularly maintain and review control measures to ensure their effectiveness. For example, maintain floor surfaces to minimise slip hazards and maintain trolley wheels to reduce pushing and pulling efforts.

MSD-related training should be provided to all senior leaders, supervisors, and workers:

• For senior leaders: Training to understand and demonstrate how to meet due diligence obligations related to managing MSD risks.
• For supervisors: Facilitation training to consult with workers and encourage genuine participation.
• For all workers: Information and training on the nature of work, associated MSD risks, control measures, early symptoms of MSDs, and reporting procedures.

Training for all workers should include:

• The MSD risk management process, including risk identification, assessment, control, and review.
• Nature of the work, associated MSD risks, and measures to control these risks.
• Safe work procedures and the use of mechanical tools and equipment.
• Recognition of MSD signs and symptoms and the importance of early reporting.
• Reporting problems or maintenance issues.

Training should be relevant to the workers’ positions and delivered in a way that they can understand. Workers should demonstrate competency in performing tasks according to procedures. 'How to lift' training alone is not sufficient or adequate to protect workers from the risks of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. It does not control worker exposure to risk factors or sources of risk for hazardous manual tasks. Refer to the 'How to Lift' training position paper for more information.

Maintain and regularly review control measures to ensure they remain fit for purpose and effective. Reviews should occur:

• When control measures are ineffective.
• Before changes at the workplace introduce new risks.
• When new hazards or risks are identified.
• Following consultation or at the request of a health and safety representative.

Regularly review control measures to ensure no other work health and safety risks or hazards have been created. This ongoing process helps maintain a safe work environment.

Focus on risk controls: Incident investigations should aim to evaluate and improve existing risk controls rather than targeting individual workers. Identify the sources of risk causing MSDs and implement higher-order control measures such as work redesign, environmental improvements, and better task and/or job design. This ensures that the work process is less prone to errors and therefore safer for workers.

Encourage reporting: Workers may hesitate to report injuries or participate in incident reviews, especially if they fear blame. Management should reassure employees that the purpose of incident reviews is to enhance safety, rather than to assign blame. Information collected is used solely to improve workplace safety.

Share findings: Communicate the findings from incident reviews across the business. Implement recommended controls and track progress to ensure these measures are effective. This continuous feedback loop helps to promote and maintain a safe working environment.