Hi all, I've had a query raised today about telephone headsets. At the moment, we supply each person (employee or worker) with their own individual headset. There have been some problems with these being transported between different sites and getting lost but there is also a concern with the cost, especially around supplying these to casual workers. The department would like to change this system to one where a headset is assigned to each desk and each member of staff is issued with their own mouthpiece (microphone) and earpiece. Cleaning wipes will be provided for the rest of the unit. However, this proposal has previously been rejected on the grounds of "health and safety"... because we always get the blame!! My initial thought was that this type of equipment isn't covered by H&S law and therefore the proposals for change would be ok but then I wondered if this could reasonably be classed as PPE to prevent strain, etc, from using a conventional handset. Can anyone advise on this? Thanks

Good point! Thanks David :)

Thanks Cerith, that's where my line of thought was going. What I've said to the person asking is that providing individual headsets for each member of staff isn't covered under H&S law and that these are treated the same way as chairs, standard desk phones, etc - so they are all still classed as work equipment but there are no specialist requirements to supply one per person.

We have lots of people using and yes, sometimes sharing, headsets. We provide wipes and have never had any issues at all. I've been here for over 30yrs and never known of any problems except the weight of the old ones we had years ago. With the new light weight ones no problems