Posted By Ashley Williams I have been asked to find out if there is a minimum amount of space an operator should have to work in when operating machinery, a safe working area. The example I have been given is that of some one using a lath. Any advice would be welcome as the majority of my work covers the voluntary sector and offices and shops. I would welcome the opportunity to develop more skills in an industrial area but due to the economy round here don’t really have the chance so I’m looking for assistance. Thanks Ashley

Posted By Nick Higginson Ashley, Regulation 10 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regs 1992 contains requirements for Room Dimensions and space. Hope this helps, Nick

Posted By Jay Joshi A significant proportion of the Factories Act 1961 has been repealed by modern non-prescriptive legislation in the form of objective regulations. I very much doubt that there are ant explicit guidelines--it is all down to risk assessment -- in your case, you need to consider the manufacturers/suppliers instructions as different machinery may require a varying degrees of space/clearance for servicing/maintenence/operations. Then there may be requirements for movement of personnel, vehicles etc. Last buut not least, you will have to consider safe evacuation for emergencies--There are also standards for anthroprometrics in terms of ergonomics and spatial space requirements