Here is the ergonomics legislation from
Namibia
The information here was collated from official online sources by Ergo Global ergonomists. All information is for general purposes and cannot be considered 1-to-1 legal advice. Ergo Global disclaim any liability relating to the information provided on this page.
To Note
Namibia does not have a single “ergonomics act,” but ergonomics regulation is integrated into its Labour Act 11 of 2007.
It contains no specific ergonomics regulations for remote work.
Page last updated: 13/08/2026
The Duties of
The Employer
-
Article 2
(1) An employer shall -
(a) investigate and identify the hazards attached to any work that is performed or may be performed by any of his or her employees, including the risks or potential risks to the health and safety of employees associated with such work, or to the health and safety of any other person who may be affected by such work;
(b) assess the hazards and risks identified in terms of paragraph (a);
(c) subject to paragraph (d), eliminate the hazards by employing appropriate measures, including the removal of the hazards, or the changing of the organization or schedules of the work performed; or
(d) If it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate the hazards, do all that is reasonably practicable to minimize the hazards, or to reduce the risks caused by the hazards by means of the minimizing -
(i) the effects of the hazard at its source;
(ii) the effects of the hazards on employees; and
(iii) the level and period of exposure of employees to the hazard by means of the arrangement and organization of work.
(2) In complying with paragraph (d) of subregulation (1), an employer shall rely upon the use of personal protective equipment by employees -
(a) only if it is not reasonably practicable to reduce the risks by any other means; or
(b) as a temporary measure while other steps are being taken to eliminate or minimize the hazard concerned.
(3) An employer shall provide every employee in his or her employ, including any person serving an apprenticeship in terms of any law, with training in the tasks that he or she is to perform, including all aspects of health and safety related to such tasks, so as to enable the employee to take reasonable care of his or her own safety and of that of other employees.
(4) If an employee’s job description or the scope of his or her employment is changed in such a manner that he or she will be performing additional tasks, or tasks which will differ from the tasks which he or she previously performed, the employer shall -
(a) in detail inform the employee of all aspects relating to, and train the employee in the performance of, the additional tasks;
(b) instruct the employee in all the aspects of health and safety related to such tasks, before the employee shall commence performing such tasks.
(5) An employer who has entered into an agreement with a contractor to perform certain tasks shall ensure that such a contractor complies with these regulations.
(6) All safety equipment and facilities, including personal protective equipment and clothing that an employer is required to provide in terms of any provision of the Act or of these regulations, shall be -
(a) appropriate and effective for the purposes for which they are provided;
(b) supplied free of charge;
(c) maintained in an effective or working order and in a clean condition; and
(d) available at each work-place in sufficient quantities to ensure that any employee who is required to use personal protective equipment or clothing, is in a position to use such equipment or clothing.
(7) An employee who is required to use personal protective equipment or clothing shall be thoroughly instructed on the ‘proper use, the maintenance and the limitations of such equipment or clothing.
(8) If necessary, all personal protective equipment and clothing shall be retained on the employer’s premises and shall only be removed from the premises for the purposes of cleaning, repairing, maintenance or modification, as the case may be, when necessary.
(9) No employer shall require or permit any employee to work in a place or in circumstances where the use of safety equipment, clothing or facilities are required by the Act or by these regulations, unless the employee uses the safety equipment, clothing or facility so required.
(10) this regulation do not derogate from any other provision requiring the use by employees in any specific place of particular safety equipment, clothing or facilities. -
Article 41
(1) If any employee has in the course of his or her employment reasonable opportunity for sitting down while working, without any form of detriment to his or her work, the employer shall provide and maintain suitable seating for the employee’s use.
(2) If a substantial proportion of any work can be properly performed by an employee while sitting down, the employer shall provide and maintain for each employee doing that work a seat of a design, construction and dimensions suitable for the employee and for the work, as well as, where practicable, a foot rest on which the employee can readily and comfortably support his or her feet, if he or she cannot do so without a footrest, and a back rest.
(3) The employer shall provide effective protection for any employee who may be at risk of injury or disease from work that -
(a) takes place in a manner that imposes limitations on motion or action;
(b) is of a repetitive nature;
(c) requires constant or uninterrupted mental effort; or
(d) requires awkward physical effort or a high level of physical effort.
(4) The protection referred to in subregulation (3) shall include, if appropriate -
(a) the provision of equipment or tools designed, constructed, positioned or maintained to reduce the harmful effects of the work;
(b) appropriate operating procedures to reduce the harmful effects of the work; and
(c) any other measures which an inspector may consider appropriate.
What's next?
Step 1
Run an ergonomics audit following these regulations.
Step 2
List out the gaps in your ergonomics policy.
Step 4
Contact Ergo Global for more support where needed.
