Posted By Rachael Ford
Jane

I also work in an NHS Trust and we are currently using several online packages including DSE and DSE risk assessment. They are very easy to use and are proving successful. The packages were developed through a company called Network Training who are based in London. have dealt with a gentleman called Bryan Burgess who is very helpful and can be contacted on 020 83984119.

I hope this helps.

Rachael

Posted By Ron Hunter
just finished evaluating Ivy training package -pretty good. See www.ivysoft.co.uk
Package has facility to 'link' into in-house supporting documents via intranet.

Posted By Ian Stone
We managed to get a syatem from Cardinus, they offer other training packages as well as DSE. This has gone down very well with our staff and have saved us time, we can now work out who needs help/advice straight away.

Hope this helps

Ian

Posted By Richy
In the financial sector I recently worked on adapting a cardinus managing safely package to suit the working environment.
I therefore agree that cardinus offer several useful solutions to intranet health and safety learning covering various aspects e.g DSE, Manual Handling and line managers responsibilities.
However when using such packages it is vital to ensure that it is individualised and that it is backed up with other visible managemnt initiatives such as physical training and auditing.
An intranet package should not be seen as the be all and end all to health and safety such complacency will result in accidents.
The intranet is a tool not a manager.
Richy Marriott

Posted By Alison Melrose
Please note - Work with Display Screen Equipment (Guidance on Regulations) clearly state that the assessment should be carried out by a competent person i.e. someone trained to carry out the assessment so technically the self assessment package would not be enough to comply with the regulations.

I worked for a large organisation which employed this type of package and it didn't work. The major drawback to the self assessment computer packages is that it relies on the individual completing it truthfully (you get different answers depending on the time of day, if you've been on holiday etc). Normally there are "trigger" questions that highlight those "potentially at risk" however, as the person may not be aware they are sitting incorrectly (too low, slouching, leaning forward, placing feet on castors as they don't realise they can have a footrest etc), they will probably say everything is fine...this just delays any discomfort for the future! It is important that a postural assessment is carried out (not just checking the minimum requirements - does the equipment provided do the job it's designed to do). I was supposed to "assess" over 560 staff members but didn't get the time to visit each person individually so unless the person had severe pain, I was to assume everything was OK...hardly a proactive approach to health and safety!

So, although these packages can be useful, they MUST be backed up with a visit from a trained individual who will discuss the problems encountered and offer practical solutions...