Health and Safety at work - my office chair
I go to work each day and spend most of my time in a very ordinary looking open plan office doing a fairly typical office job sat at a desk with a computer. Then one day a large important looking man came into our office and said he was going to carry out work place assessments to ensure that we comply with health and safety regulations.
He came over to my desk and asked if he could "observe my working practices for the next few minutes". After a short time he told me that I wasn’t sitting properly, my phone was not properly positioned and my monitor was at the wrong angle.
He then showed me how to sit at my desk properly (having used a chair for the last 28 or so years of my life I thought I had it covered), how to hold my mouse correctly and the correct position for my screen. I know this is done to avoid RSI etc. and after a quick chat and a bit of a telling off I had to sign a form to say that I had read the guidelines on "using my workspace". He then set off to assess the next member of staff.
Then the very next day he came back in and we all have to learn how to lift a cardboard box in the correct fashion. Of course all this was to make sure we comply with those health and safety regulations. Personally I thought it was all a bit silly.
However it turns out my chair actually isn’t any good for me and a new one has been ordered at a cost of around £500! I have to say it is much more comfy than the old one, but it’s come out of our budget and my manager is fuming with me now!
I think that money was earmarked for the Christmas party or something, so now I’m the least favourite person in my team and all because some bloke said I slouched a bit!
So don’t worry about the leaky pipe in the gents, or that gas like smell coming form the basement storage on the first floor or the crazy employee that insists on driving into the company car park at 100mph, hand braking to a stop inches from the car next to him. Don’t worry about the bloke who regularly has a quick out by the fire exit or indeed the dubious looking cleaner that you are sure is nicking stuff from your desk.
Oh no, you want to make sure you sit at your desk in the correct manner!
By: Billy no wages
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Unfortunately I don't know about whether they help hip problems, but I can't see how they would be harmful as your hips are not as bent when you're sitting on one as they are on an ordinary chair.
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grumpyoldwoman - 24-Oct-10 09:09
I had one of those but had to stop using it after I tore the meniscus disc in my knee. The knee seems to have settled now, although it took years to do so.
Do you happen to know if "back chairs" are helpful or harmful for hip joint problems?
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The osteopath I went to recommended a "back chair" (the ones with a seat at an angle and another bit to put your knees on). The company bought me one for about £40 (not £500!) and I have no trouble since.
I don't think that any chair, even a £500 one, will make you sit in the correct posture for your back unless it is of this design.
Regarding the general subject of H&S at work; the grumpyoldman says if it gets any worse he will have to produce a method statement for using the on site loos. (He didn't quite put it like that though!)
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grumpyoldwoman - 23-Oct-10 10:23
It all comes out of company funds! Do you really think small companies can afford to put aside money just for safety equipment these days? If they need to buy something unexpected they have to do without something else.
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grumpyoldwoman - 23-Oct-10 09:18
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old but still grumpy - 22-Oct-10 22:52
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First of all the way you sit and position your VDU has an afect on your posture and all the talk of common sense did not make you position your desk correctly did it? You had to be shown. What were the consequencies of not sitting correctly ? well chronic aching back pain is one for a start which would mean in a few years down the line you losing time of work which would cost your employer more than buying you a chair right now. In your story I saw no proof that the other factors you state regarding gas smells and idiots driving so fast into the carpark were no goiing to be addressed. This man was a specialist within the field he conducted his survey into. Under the HSAW act 1974 it is your duty to report the gas smell and driving at speed problem so you should not complain it is not being sorted if you have not reported it.
If your employer/manager is picking on you for receiving equipment that prevents ill health due to bad backs then he is at fault, as he is begrudging you the correct equipment for carrying out your duties injust the same way as giving you a computer enables you to carry out your duties. You have fallen into a false sense of what is working equipment and not realised being safe from accidents, and ergonomic illnesses and stress is all part of modern working life. We have gone a long way from the days that employees had to suffer so that the employer could make more profits. Xmas parties funds should not be part of company purchase orders for equipment and safety.
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http://www.justblogme.com/workworkwork/258369/Workplace+Safety+Issues.html
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Cherry Emery - 24-Sep-09 11:26
http://www.justblogme.com/workworkwork/256007/Tips+on+Workplace+Safety.html
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Cherry Emery - 22-Sep-09 08:33
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If you visited a building site today you would probably be amazed to find that as many, if not more, people are working in offices (nice & cool no doubt) on site as there are builders actually doing the job. The office workers are there to implement things like health & safety and environmental policies as well as all the stuff actually necessary to getting the job done.
Yet still nobody is capable of thinking things through!
I could show you "safety" goggles with which you could seriously damage your eyes! They are made in one piece with the arms shut so that you have to pull them apart to put the goggles on. If you happened to try to take them off with one hand by grasping them in the middle at the bridge of your nose the arms would snap shut and the ends of the arms could scrape across your eyeballs in the process!!
Risk assessments are unfortunately done a long way ahead of the job, which doesn't help either.
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grumpyoldwoman - 1-Jul-09 15:11
The situation sounds daft to me.
In this particular situation the principal contractor has not implemented the provisions of CDM (Construction Design & Management Regulations) or general H&S law and guidance correctly.
Risk assessments must be be specific to each task dependant upon the circumstances and if the contractor has merely implemented a blanket policy irrespective of site conditions and hazards (such as the current heat wave) then he will be found negligent should one of the workers fall ill with heatstroke, dehydration or other heat related symptoms.
The 'numpty' who is insisting on the current regime needs to undertake a course of education as soon as possible.
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In this case they are a company which does some work in quarries, where reflective clothing is now standard. Some numpty decided that it made sense (!) for ALL their sites to be covered by the same regulations, so even though the job is actually a building in the middle of a town all the reflective clothing has to be worn! It is not remotely necessary for this particular job; but the jobsworths have no latitude.
One of the men nearly got thrown off the site a couple of weeks ago for taking one glove off to look at the drawings!
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