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Posted By seanie
i work in a large office, i have recently had 3 photocopiers moved away from the office floor and located them in a separate area which is ventilated.
my understanding is that nobody should be seated within 3 meters of a copier because of the exhaust fumes.
an email was sent to all staff explaining that they were moved for H&S reasons.
there has been a few rumblings from some staff because they have to walk to the far side of the building where they are now located.
i just want to confirm that the action i have taken is correct,as the copiers were located right next to the staff's desks.
any feed back would be appreciated.
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Posted By Heather Collins Was this decision to move the copiers based on a proper risk assessment - including such points as measurement of ozone levels, usage and age of the machines in question, maintenance intervals, and feedback from staff in the area or was it just based on something you read in a document like this one? http://www.lhc.org.uk/me.../pubs/factsht/76fact.pdfWhile the decision may indeed prove to be the correct one, if you have not based it on a proper risk assessment then I'm afraid you've potentially made it for the wrong reasons. In my experience, staff are much more likely to understand an unpopular move if it's properly explained to them and they have been involved in the decision making process rather than if it is imposed on them because some H&S document apparently says so. You might want to do the risk assessment now if you haven't already and see if it backs up your decision!
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Posted By seanie
Heather thanks for your reply, let me explain a bit more, the building is 4 floors high and occupied by the same employer, on all the other floors the copiers are separated or screened away from the staff, there is a risk assessment in place for the whole site.
the floor i work on was upgraded and the copiers were placed besides the desks of the staff.
i had complaints about the smell and noise from the copiers, once i started to investigate it came to light that the copiers had not been serviced for over 2 years, so that was immediately taken care off,then after a lengthy process (the wheels turn slowly in my organisation)we got permission to have them relocated to a separate ventilated area.
hope that clears up your questions?
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Posted By Heather Collins
Sean - yes it does. Sound as though you did the right thing then!
I have experience of similar moaning when individual desk printers were removed in favour of a single high speed printer/copier/scanner in an open plan office. However staff soon get used to having to adjust their work schedules to allow for the walk to the copier/printer.
Things for them to consider:
1. Don't print stuff off so often! (obvious environmental benefits here) Better use of laptops, projectors, wireless networks in the building and so on can remove the need for printing stuff for meetings for example. I was amazed how many people still printed off their e-mails for absolutely no good reason except that they've always done it!
2. Unless something is required at once, leave it until they need to have that two minute micro-break from the VDU screen and fetch the printing then.
Sometimes it's hard to educate people that a little inconvenience is better than ill-health. Good luck!
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Posted By seanie
thanks Heather, i started to question myself afterwards, so thankyou for backing up my actions.
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Posted By James Larkin
Was there not some concerns a few years back about photocopiers and printers with some component of carbon black being potentially cancerous? If I remember correctly it was some Australian research.
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