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Posted By M1ke
We are due to move into a new office very soon but wilst the person who did the plan thought it looked good on paper, now the desks have been put in to plan it does not leave very much room behind people who will be sat 'back to back'.
I can see problems when occupants try to pull away from their desks (to open drawers etc) at the same time. Short of putting reversing lights and audible alarms on the chairs is there a minimum distance the desks should be apart?
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Posted By Michael
Try Reg 11 of the Workplace regs
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Posted By M1ke
I have looked at this but cannot see anything there.
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Posted By CW
From memory (and it is a few years ago) I think the minimum space between desks is 72"
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Posted By Ashley Wood
The fire legislation states 11 Sqm per worker. I believe that the H&S is around 7 or 8 Sqm per worker. As a side, how many people are you putting on a floor?
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Posted By Adrian Watson
The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 (No.3004) Regulation 10 (1)states that "Every room where persons work shall have sufficient floor area, height and unoccupied space for purposes of health, safety and welfare."
The over-riding principle is that there is no overcrowding. This is a matter of fact. If the desks are so close together that 2 persons cannot get out at the same time, then it is overcrowded.
Regards Adrian
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Posted By M1ke
Thanks for all the responses so far. Gilly I have looked at the link to a previous topic and from that it suggests where workers are back to back the minimum is 1800mm. Apart from the thread is this information 'officially' written anywhere.
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Posted By Gilly Margrave
The Metric Handbook isn't law but would be regarded as best practice. It's available from RIBA
http://www.ribabookshops...e/viewtitle.asp?pid=3314
or from bigger libraries.
On the more general point of total area the ACOP to Reg 10 of the Workplace Regs states 11 cubic meters not counting anything over 3 meters...more if much of the room is taken up by furniture.
Gilly
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Posted By Gilly Margrave
I forgot to mention The Metric Handbook is also available on line if you subscribe to IHS.
Gilly
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Posted By Kieran J Duignan
Mike
If you have been appointed by your employer as the person 'competent' to advise them about safety management, why not conduct an assessment of foreseeable risks of musculoskeletal and stress injuries associated with the intended degree of density of usage of the office space, and report accordingly?
The relevant regulations are the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and its ACOP and, where the offices use display screen equipment of any kind, the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, as amended in 2002.
In conducting a risk assessment, it's also appropriate to cite the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 with regard to any added risk to an employee with a physical impairment or disability which that may be affected by dense occupation, in the event of any emergency.
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Posted By P.R
Gilly,
I cant find metric handbook on IHS!
Regards
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Posted By GT
Mike, I am not sure if there is a written application about the distances between desks. I do know there is a written rule about individual space within office accommodation and I think Ashley was close when referring to this which is 11 cubic meters.
Building regulations will determine the maximum number of people per room, they have a factor which divides into room area which is based on the equipment likely to be used within the room.
Trust this helps.
GT
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Posted By Bob Youel
Don't forget disabled areas; as the risk assessment comes from the point of 'likehood' - so if it is likely that a disabled person may work there space etc must be allowed
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Posted By Ashley Wood
Are you trying to get your employer to limit the number of persons on the floor? If this is the case why not look at the fire regulations? You may find that somewhere within your fire risk assessment is the answer.
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Posted By AHS
The ACOP 11m cubed is ambiguous regarding the furniture element somewhat allowing Employers off the hook.
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Posted By Gilly Margrave
Hi IHS,
Lets be a bit careful with the maths here. 11 metres cubed is not the same as 11 cubic metres - the former being 121 cubic metres.
Gilly ;)
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Posted By Gilly Margrave
Sorry - that should have been AHS - must be suffering from abbreviation overload.
G;)
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Posted By Bob Thompson CMIOSH
in simple terms the calculation is as follows.
ceiling height below two metres length times breadth divided by 4.6 will give you the maximum occupancy
for ceilings above 2.4 meters same calculation but divided by 3.7.
However this does not take into account subsidiary equipment or suitability of the space.
as previously stated risk assessment is the key. the advice I give is to work out the maximum possible occupancy, then draw a scale plan with cut out desks and furniture to scale. See if you can get them to fit and still provide a reasonable working environment. It is far easier than tying to move desks etc once you are in.
Regards Bob
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Posted By Bob Shillabeer
From Regulation 10 of the Workplace, Health and Safety, Regulations the minimum space per employee using the space available in any one room is 11 cubic metres (subject to a maximum hight of 3 meters. This mesure does not apply to certain rooms such as retail sales kiosks, machine control cabins stc. and rooms used for lectures, meetings and similar purposes.
Therefore the minimum is 11 cubic metres. But there are some requirements which may increase this as this is the minimum required, for example the fire regulations may specify more tha 11 cubic meters, but the fact remains the minimum is 11 cubic meters. Remember this is the cubic capacity of the room when empty. In order to assess how much room is available the total room space (below3 meters) should be calculated by the number of people it is planned to have in the room at any one time i.e. the normal number of people who work in the room.
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Posted By Merv Newman
I do have a couple of photos on file which could illustrate a presentation :
The first, which I hope is posed, is of two office workers back to back. One has (how can I put this in a politically correct manner ?) an extremely well developed waist structure (?)
The second appears to show about 100 employees in a Japanese call centre. Each has no more personal space than is taken up by their chair. Call of nature ? Wait for the bell and file out in alphabetical order.
Copies available on e-mail request
Building regs can give you a guide but be prepared to adapt to the individual morphology of your employees. And some people who use wheelchairs can need a really BIG turning circle.
Merv
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Posted By Merv Newman
An afterthought on the wheelchair thing.
What percentage of the UK population might require extra consideration ?
I don't know the answer so let's say it is X%
I feel strongly that all new builds and emergency procedures should take that X% into consideration and prepare for X% of our employees needing that extra consideration.
Now, and this is quite possibly where I go completely wonky, if you cram the maximum number of people in, to the recommended square feet per person, what accommodation are you planning (and I do mean planning) for pregnant women ?) (I tried "ladies" in there but it didn't seem right. Do "ladies" get pregnant ?)
OK, hit me, I'm only a man. And low resale or part-exchange value at that.
Merv
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Posted By M1ke
Thanks to all for all the good responses.
Today our Senior Managers after reading these responses and gathering additional info have decided to leave ourselves to plan our own area... for which we have done. Ps we even have space for a Christmas tree!!
Cheers,
Mike
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Posted By Kieran J Duignan
Mike
You've been skilful in negotiating scope to get to grips with the challenge.
By carefully using stakeholder analysis to marshall allocation of resources and support for prudent options, you can now ensure that this scope doesn't become a source of unanticipated further difficulties.
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Posted By Steven John Bateson
I've noted some errors in the dimensions previously provided. You asked what the law requires so I checked Redgraves health and Safety. You can also access copies of all Acts and Regulations on the Home Office web site (http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk). As stated previously WHSWR 1992 reg 10 (1) holds the answer - 'every room where persons work shall have sufficient floor area, height and unoccupied space for the purpose of Helath, Safet and Welfare' but this isn't much help in practical terms. However, reg 10(2) goes on to specify more exact details for what is required of structures or parts of structures in existance when the regs came into force [leaving reg 10(1) to apply to all new structures or extensions]. 10 (2) references Schedule 1, part 1 which provides some more specific detail: a minimum of 11 cubic metres per person, including 4.2m or less height (not 2.4m as stated earlier). Thus, if your building is post 1992 it should have equal or greater space (where a need arrisises) than the requirements specified for pre-1992 work spaces and should not have less under ANY circumstances i.e. whether pre or post 1992. Hope this helps, regards, Steve
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Posted By Bob Thompson CMIOSH
the 2.4 meter ceiling height is the lowest denominator to achieve the 11 cubic meters
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Posted By Granville Jenkins
SJB is correct in his response - take the 11m3 divide it by your ceiling height in metres and you have the minimum desking space per person, this space does not account for circulation space and filing/storage cabinets. As a general rule it tends to work out at around 4m2 per person plus around 2-4m2 for circulation space and storage.
I have just carried out a minor alteration to accommodate 4 people and the space works out at approximately 7m2 per person including storage and circulation space. I was involved in other accommodation moves and one particular office came in at 15m2 per person including circulation and storage, the excessive use of space was caused by the shape of the office, circulation routes and desk layouts that would allow staff to work in teams - end result - the staff were extremely happy with their new surroundings! It just goes to show that there is no simple rule of thumb that can work where you say allow 4m2 per person then divide the floor area by 4 to see how many people you can accommodate and then cram people into the offices because your figures show that you can get x number of people into an office and x number of people are going to fit in, regardless of what others may try to tell you!
Regards
Granville
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