Posted By Kate Graham Don't they sit on swivel chairs? Kate

Posted By Kate Graham Then why would they need to twist their body? Kate

Posted By Jason911 Hi Tabs, What exact section or paragraph of the ACOP am I breaching exactly? Many Thanks. Hi Kate, You have a point. Why didn't I think of that? Jay

Posted By Jeffrey Watt Jason Personal opinion. Neck is more flexible region than trunk, therefore you can endure flexing it futher for longer. The body will not tolerate their trunk in a twisted posture because it gives painful indicators sooner and requires more calories to hold it in this awkward posture as it involves bigger muscles so the body will right itself (swivel the chair, realign bum in seat) rather than sit twisted. So unlikely anyone using a screen will twist their back long enough to cause pain/loss. The flipside of this pain is that you are more likely to abuse the flexibility of your neck with resultant static loading(all muscles on one side having to contract rather than act in opposition) causing muscle pain in the shoulders and possibly tension headaches. This is more likely to cause more loss in the long term. Again the abilities and exposure of the different indiviuals may indicate whether the slight neck twist you talk about is really worth worrying about. Kind regards Jeff

Posted By Tabs Jay, After years and years of seeing the literature, and teaching it from time to time, I have to admit that the grey matter fused it all into one. I have checked and there is not a specific part of the ACOP which says it has to be directly in front, sorry ... indeed one diagram shows it off to the right hand. My certainty came from all the other documents and various training materials which all seem to say it should be square on. Sorry. I too have worked in offices all my adult life, but sadly I have seen some very nasty cases (indeed I dealt with one painful forearm case only today, and co-incidently was talking to a guy waiting for his second carpel tunnel operation, now that the one hand is almost healed after 4 months) so it does happen, and when it does it can be dibilitating.

Posted By Kieran J Duignan Jay As a registered ergonomist, on the basis of the information available I'm inclined to think that you're getting ensnared in an unproductive level of argument with your people. No single positioning of equipment, furniture, documentation, etc. will suit all users of any equipment all the time. It won't suit even one user all the time. More cost-effective use of time and other resources to provide them with relevant training, in which they can be introduced to the relevant BS standards and to the research on relevant anthropometrics, than to go further into the quagmire of verbiage.

Posted By Ken Dickson Maj, Aren't fully adjustable chairs a better option that fully adjustable desks? The risks of DSE work are (IMHO) somewhat overemphasised. Any very repetitive work or a “bad” posture over a very extended period will cause harm, whether it relates to DSE work or not. The period the harm takes to manifest itself is, in part, dependant on the individual. We therefore base protection on protecting 95% of the population, based on a normal distribution, so 2.5% will expect to suffer harm given the normal level of protection. This is because of individual predisposition, not a failure of the protection. The huge majority of those who complain about the risks from DSE work will never suffer them because the intensity of workload required to cause it is missing... but what is there left to complain about in a well lit, air conditioned, smoke free work place. It’ll be the colour of the carpets causing eye strain next! Hmmm.. rant over!

Posted By Jason911 Spot on Ken! Jay

Posted By Kate Graham Because standard desks are very uncomfortable for tall people. If you adjust the chair to the right height for them their thighs hit the desk. Also it would be preferable for a short person to have a lower desk so they wouldn't need to faff around with a footrest. Kate