Posted By Paul Leadbetter Stephen Have you read the guidance in the ACoP to the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regs? This states that a volume of 11 cu m per person (only including the height up to a maximum of 3m) will not always give sufficient unoccupied space depending on the contents and layout of the room. If the room in question is unusually full of furniture then the number of employees should be reduced accordingly. REGARDS Paul Leadbetter

Posted By Zyggy Turek Further to the previous responses, I & my previous colleagues including TU Safety Reps, attempted to come up with a simple calculation that would take into account furniture, walkways, etc. Together we physically measured a number of offices & calculated the "used" space with the results being suprisingly consistent. Accordingly, our formula was: calculate the total room volume (l x b x height- max. 3m),subtract 40% of this figure to allow for furniture & fittings & divide the remainder by 11 to give you the maximum no. of persons allowed. We used this formula on many occasions (& I still do) & the results are quite accurate. Obviously, if the office is particularly full of equipment, etc. then you may have to deduct slightly more, but on the whole it does seem to work....try it & see. However, it doesn't end there as you have to take into account aisle widths & exit routes to comply with the Fire Precautions Act 1971 and guidance on occupational space requirements which can be found in the "Journal Metric Handbook" produced by the Royal Institute of British Architects. Other relevent legislation includes the DSE Regs. 1992. If you do end up trying the "40% rule" & it seems to work (or not!), then I would be very interested in the results. Zyggy.