Rank: Super forum user
|
One of our staff is complaining that the office they work in is not compliant with reg 10 of the welfare regs, as it has 5 persons and the space available is 53 cubic metres therefore falls short of 11 cubic metres per person. Furniture has been taken into account
Strangely a comment made by a manager was - move the ceiling up 3cm and the room would be compliant. However this would be a costly exercise.
The staff member is quite militant so any advice on how ro deal with this issue would be very much appreciated
SBH
|
|
|
|
Rank: Super forum user
|
You don't measure anything above 6ft anyway and this is taken into account when they talk about the 11 cubic metres. I think you would be hard pressed to find anywhere in an old building that all employees have 11 cubic metres. It may help if you showed what a 11 cubic meters x 5 looked like in reality.
|
|
|
|
Rank: Forum user
|
For me it would be about understanding what the actual issue is. I cannot believe that any enforcement agency would be interested in such a situation unless specific risks were occuring because of the lack of space. I would also try and understand why they were militant, in my experience there are often underlying reasons behind this such as never being listened to, ignoring of risks by management, brushing things under the carpet (sometimes in other organisations) or similar - it may be an opportunity to build a relationship with the person as you get to understand what the issues are and what led them down this road - most people I know wouldnt bother unless they were concerned about noise, ergonomics etc.
|
1 user thanked hopeful for this useful post.
|
|
|
Rank: Forum user
|
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pUbns/priced/l24.pdf
Have a read at section 10 and make of that what you want. Its a tricky one but your employee could be right!! The opening sentence "In most workplaces 11 cubic metres (11 m3) of space per person should be taken as a minimum". The word MOST could be your only argument!!!
|
|
|
|
Rank: Super forum user
|
Not sure what "furniture has been taken into account" means. Excluded or included?
|
|
|
|
Rank: Super forum user
|
Originally Posted by: SBH One of our staff is complaining that the office they work in is not compliant with reg 10 of the welfare regs,as ithas 5 persons and the space available is 53 cubic metres therefore falls short of 11 cubic metres per person. Furniture has been taken into account
Strangely a comment made by a manager was -move the ceiling up 3cm and the room would be compliant. However this would be a costly exercise.
The staff member is quite militant so any advice on how ro deal with this issue would be very much appreciated
SBH
Looks like your staff member is right.
Dealing with it?
Less staff, or bigger room!
Maybe...one or more of the other staff have "personal hygiene" problems?
Or just strong perfume....
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg244.pdf
|
|
|
|
Rank: Forum user
|
Workrooms should have enough free space to allow people to get to and from workstations and to move within the room, with ease. The number of people who may work in any particular room at any one time will depend not only on the size of the room, but on the space taken up by furniture, fittings, equipment, and on the layout of the room. Workrooms, except those where people only work for short periods, should be of sufficient height (from floor to ceiling) over most of the room to enable safe access to workstations. In older buildings with obstructions such as low beams the obstruction should be clearly marked. The total volume of the room, when empty, divided by the number of people normally working in it should be at least 11 cubic metres. In making this calculation a room or part of a room which is more than 3.0m high should be counted as 3.0m high. The figure of 11 cubic metres per person is a minimum and may be insufficient if, for example, much of the room is taken up by furniture etc. The figure of 11 cubic metres does not apply to: retail sales kiosks, attendants' shelters, machine control cabs or similar small structures, where space is necessarily limited; or rooms being used for lectures, meetings and similar purposes. In a typical room, where the ceiling is 2.4m high, a floor area of 4.6m2 (for example 2.0 x 2.3m) will be needed to provide a space of 11 cubic metres. Where the ceiling is 3.0m high or higher the minimum floor area will be 3.7m2 (for example 2.0 x 1.85m). (These floor areas are only for illustrative purposes and are approximate).
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.