About this site

Ergonomics issues in the workplace can have a significant impact on safety, health, morale and efficiency. This site provides an introduction to health and safety/ergonomics issues for people who work in the pharmaceutical industry.

It aims to:

• raise awareness of some of the ergonomic problems in the workplace
• explain the causes of ergonomic related accidents and injuries
• provide some practical information to reduce the risks
• reduce accidents and injuries
• make the industry more efficient, easier and safer to work in

For information on managing the consequences of such problems - including back pain and Upper limb disorders - please see HSE's musculoskeletal disorders site.

What is in it?

• An introduction to ergonomics
• Injury statistics
• The main ergonomic issues in the pharmaceutical industry:
  • Working posture
  • Upper limb disorders
  • Manual handling
  • Equipment design
• Examples of common problems and possible solutions in specific tasks or work areas
  Containing detailed information on the ergonomic design and use of equipment
• Good practice guides
  Good practice guides have been developed on certain topics to help to assist you further in making your working environment more user orientated.
• Case studies
  Case studies of successful ergonomic solutions which have been implemented in different parts of the industry
• Checklists
  A series of checklists for carrying out ergonomic assessments
• Links
  Links to useful websites and publications on ergonomics

Who is it for?

• anyone with an interest in ergonomic issues within the pharmaceuticals industry
• managers, engineers and designers, helping them to identify and eliminate ergonomic risks in the pharmaceuticals industry
• health and safety professionals
• safety representatives
• employees

This site has been developed jointly by HSE and Hu-Tech Ergonomics. We acknowledge the support of the Association of British Pharmaceuticals Industry (ABPI) and the organisations who participated in the project, in particular GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly, who provided the case-study material used in the guidance.