MINIMUM STATUTORY SPACE REQUIREMENTS The legislation simply states that “every room where persons work shall have sufficient floor area, height and unoccupied space for purposes of health, safety and welfare”. This is supported by a statutory Approved Code of Practice and Guidance which goes on to state: “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 3.0 m high should be counted as 3.0 m 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 2.4 m high, a floor area of 4.6 m² (for example 2.0 x 2.3 m) will be needed to provide a space of 11 m³”. 2.4m 200m23m “Where the ceiling is 3.0 m high or higher the minimum floor area will be 3.7 m² (for example 2.0 x 1.85 m).