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Posted By D Whitelegg
I guess sometimes size does matter but is there a legal minimum that anyone knows of for the size of a desk? I've recently taken over from someone as H&S Adviser and they had put a risk assessment in place stating a minimum of 1400mm width for a desk. I've check DSE Regs, Workplace Regs and even BS 9241 and none of these appear to mention a legal minimium. It's becoming a bit of an issue as some managers want to cram more and more people in to the same space.
Any ideas?
David
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Posted By Paul Leadbetter
David
There is nothing in law but plenty of guidance including British Standards (BS5940, if memory serves me correctly).
Paul
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Posted By Ken Dickson
David,
The old space requirements in the Factories Act and the Offices Shops etc Act have all gone. All I can remember from the Management Regs and the DSE Regs is about adequate working space. That said, there’s nothing wrong with you having an internal policy on minimum desk size. If management want to change it, it should be up to them to change the existing arrangements, not you.
Ken
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Posted By Paul Devlin
Theres no actual minimum mentioned in statute but certainly is scope for argument in the DSE Regs around workspace etc for using DSE equipment.
The minimum space required still stands and its 11 cubic meters not including the furntiture etc.
Regards
Paul
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Posted By GT
Davids origin question
was about minimum desk size, not workspace?
Regards
GT
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Posted By AlB
I suspect that the 1400mm is an internal standard the business has either made a concious descision on in the past, or the previous H&S guy reckoned that was a suitable size. Of course, I may be incorrect, but I have not come accross such a requirement from my searches.
Provided smaller desk spaces do not conflict with workplace ergonomics, then there shouldn't be an issue. Also remember that PCs and other hardware are smaller now than ever, and that could make up for the smaller desk sizes.
Let us know if you find anything to the contrary.
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Posted By Alan Hoskins
BS 7179:Part 5:1990 Specification for VDT workstations gave the size of work surface as a minimum of 1200mm by 600mm but 1200mm by 800mm to be preferred.
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Posted By Kevin Walker
Hi
BS 7179:Part 5:1990 was superceded by EN ISO 9241-5:1999, which is also a BS and indicates that the size of the work surface should be determined by the requirements of the task. Then goes on about the depth of the desk based on the size of the computer.
So it would seem that the desk size is not set at a particular size but depend on what you are doing. Makes sense.
kevin
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Posted By Alan Hoskins
Thanks Kevin - must learn to keep up!
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Posted By Salus
Hi D, out of curiousity what task was the risk assessment for concerning the desk?
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Posted By Mystery
"It's becoming a bit of an issue as some managers want to cram more and more people in to the same space."
On the above qoute rather than looking at desk sizes, you could consider whether the recommended 3m2 air space per person is being achieved and whether there is a sufficient amount of Air Changes per person and per hour in the room.... chance are unless there is a force 5 gale blowing through the room air changes wont be being met
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Posted By D Whitelegg
Thanks everyone for all the info. Certainly gives me something to think about.
Salus, there was no specific task at this point. It came up following a request to our facilities management people to install another desk and the question of minimum desk size was raised. As the size of 1400 had been given by the previous incumbent I thought it best to check where that number had come from. From the information given here it seems to be that it was probably from their experience of best practice rather than a strict legislative requirement.
Both myself and the Facilities guys are happy to stay with the advice but wanted to be sure of our position when it is questioned (which it will be).
Thanks again for all the advice.
David
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