Employers (in this case either woolgrowers or shearing contractors) have legal obligations to employees under various State based legislation. Occupational Health & Safety Authorities in each State have Shearing Industry OH&S Guidelines that outline those obligations and must be adhered to by employers.

In shearing sheds some of the key OH&S and Performance Ergonomic considerations should include:

Effort by shed staff to: 

• fill the shed with sheep;
• fill the catching pens; and
• count out.
  

Effort by wool handlers to:

• handle the fleece, belly wool and oddment wool on the shearing board; and 
• throw the fleece on the skirting table.
  

Effort by shearers to: 

• catch and tip the sheep;
• drag out;
• position the sheep on the board;
• shear the sheep; and
• release the sheep from the shearing board.
  

Effort by the woolclasser, wool handlers and presser to:

• handle the wool on the skirting table;
• take wool from table to bins;
• take wool form the bins to the press; 
• press the bales;
• Ensure the Classers stencil is on all the bales;
• Check all brands on bales;
• take the bales to the storage area;
• place the wool bales from the storage area to truck;
• identify any potential hazards in the working environment (including chemical or biological hazards);
• ensure equipment is fit for its purpose and  well maintained;
• ensure that any risks from hazardous aspects of equipment are properly managed (e.g. wool presses guarded etc); and 
• ensure that staff facilities are clean and suited to worker needs.

Note: Within most state OH&S authorities, the "Shearing OH&S Guidance" documents, a checklist is provided which can be used to identify and assess any health and safety problems. See an example of the Victorian Workcover Authority checklist (PDF 132Kb) or find a list of State authority websites as shown below:

• WorkCover ACT
• WorkCover Corporation of South Australia
• Workplace Services Division (ERIC) - South Australia
• Queensland WorkCover Authority
• WorkCover New South Wales
• WorkCover Western Australia
• Workplace Standards Tasmania
• WorkCover Tasmania
• WorkSafe Western Australia
• DEIR Workplace - Health and Safety (Queensland)
• NT Worksafe

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