Safety with Computers - Display Screen Equipment Assessment
Posted on February 18, 2008
It’s an absolute requirement to complete ‘Display Screen Equipment’ Assessments if you have staff using computers as part of their regular duties a work. Safety with Computers is something that confuses Employers day-after-day and for good reason. In the not so distant past, an Employer had to identify which of these employees would be classed as ‘habitual uses’ (sounds a little sinister!). Now hopefully non of you current Office equipment looks like this ….. !
Thankfully, the requirements are relatively straightforward. Employees who HAVE to use the computer to do their job (that is, it’s not really an option) and Employees use a computer for their work throughout the day for extensive periods (unlike CNC Programme functions) they will need to be assessed.
The simplest assessment is that shown in the Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) and asks an individual to complete a self-assessment questionnaire.
Once you have some responses you have started the assessment - not completed it! The skill is really in identifying the solutions to any of the issues raised, with those that will meet the requirements of both the Employee and Employer.
This may well be a time when you want to use some outside help and in fairness you may want some assistance with the whole process rather than address this important issue in a unco-ordinated way.
Remember, there are potential issues with RSI for those whose working arrangements are not properly addressed, so it’s worth getting right!
Office Safety Manual Handling Safety Consultant
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Health and Safety working with Computers
Posted on February 5, 2008
It is time to consider Health and Safety when working with Computers. Computers are wonderful things, yet with them comes a hazard that most of us never think about. What we need to consider is that as we fill the office with more equipment we need more sockets. Sadly, the average office simply does not have enough wall sockets for all of the plugs, so we end up with multisocket extensions everywhere!
Now there is nothing wrong with a modern fused multi-socket extention. Better still is the surge protection type to help even out any ’spikes’ in the supply and prevent potential damage to the computers, yet the problem remains that we have all these cables and do not consider the hazards that they bring.
The health and safety issue lies in the fact that we keep adding all these cables under the desk! That space under our feet is precious and we need to control the sheer volume of items that can accumulate. Over the years we’ve added sub woofers under the desk for the sound on the computer - great, but it take up a fair amount of space.
Now we can have 2 printers on or near the desk (2 sockets and more data cables), monitor and CPU (2 sockets), powered speakers (1 socket), Internet Router (another socket), wireless Router (another), laptop (yet another) and so the list goes on!
All of this technology is fantastically useful, but we must consider the routing of cables and keeping the haven under the desk for foot and leg space, otherwise we are introducing hazards that start to affect posture! Dare I say the words Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) - I though you might find that disturbing!
In reality RSI is not likely to result, however it’s a phrase that we associate with safety with computers, our concern is really about poor posture, that can lead to all kinds of muscular discomfort that can take months to treat and correct. In addition we should think about the trip hazard that it causes, hundreds of accidents every year are caused by electrical cables, so be aware and site that ever increasing bundle out from under the desk!
More articles on the main web site here
Office Safety Trips slips and falls Safety Consultant
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Employees Working Alone in the Office
Posted on January 31, 2008
Like most things in life, we rarely stop to consider that possible problems of ‘working alone’. Most staff would not normally be classed as ‘lone workers’, since they work with other people around them all day long
However, have you stopped to consider the times when everyone else is out of the Office, for a Training Session or a Presentation? Suddenly you have a ‘Lone Worker’. More commonly, who opens up in the morning and who is the last to leave – are they alone when they do this?
Read the rest on the website here
Office Safety Lone Working Safety Consultant
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Assessing Computer User Safety
Posted on January 29, 2008
Most of us do not even consider ourselves to be ‘Display Screen Users’, it sounds like a strange form of new form of addiction!
Well in reality, it is really – Many of us sit a computer for a large part of our days at work, some of us take a Laptop with us when we visit clients
When we return home, what do we do – jump onto the Home PC and check the latest contact details on FaceBook or start surfing on eBay for a ‘Rare Rolls Royce Baseball Cap’
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Office Safety, DSE, Computer Safety, Safety Consultant
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Manual Handling in the Office
Posted on January 28, 2008
Let’s get something straight from the start - Offices are hardly the most hazardous place to work in!
However, they are still Workplaces and so if they are not managed properly they can become dangerous environments.
The Office is then not a dangerous working environment for most of us, speaking comparatively. From time to time though we have tasks that are ‘out of the routine’ which introduce new hazards that we not always take proper account of.
It would be fair to say that compared with a Fishing Boat on the North Sea in February or a Foundry, Offices are pretty mundane and do not have the natural hazards seen in other Workplaces.
Manual Handling is one example of an unusual activity within the office, since the largest and heaviest item that is normally moved is a box of paper.
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Office Safety, Manual Handling, Safety Consultant
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