Office safety - H&S at work

Offices are relativelystraightforward workplaces with low risks. But whilst they have low risk there are generally larger numbers of people involved, often spread over a number of floors. The main issues to consider are:

1. Fire Safety

The UK Home Office produce an excellent booklet fire safety indexed opposite.

Means of escape. From a health and safety view point the most important matter is that if there is a fire people can safely escape from the building. All buildings should have unobstructed fire escapes which meet safety standards - if in doubt contact local fire prevention officers.

Evacuation procedure. Alarm systems should be tested regularly and a full evacuation practice take place annually.

2. VDU Equipment

See section Working with VDUs indexed opposite.

3. Electrical Safety

Provided it remains undamaged office electrical equipment is perfectly safe. Regular visual inspection to, for example, check conductor leads are secure and undamaged is easy to do has no cost. A few years ago companies went over the top having earth leakage tests on equipment. Earth leakage testing is a good idea for new equipment, but in normal use such testing need only be repeated infrequently. See also electrical hazard sheet indexed opposite.

4. Manual Handling

More than two thirds of serious absences from work injuries arise from manual handling - photocopy paper has a lot to answer for! The HSE leaflet Getting To Grips With Manual Handling give straight forward advice and is well worth making available to staff.

5. Air Conditioning Maintenance

If air conditioning equipment has water cooling tower then legionnaires disease is a worry and frequent water quality checks need to take place. Local Authorities need to be informed if a water cooling tower is in place. In any event such equipment should be regularly maintained.

6. Posture and arm problems

These are becoming more common. It is extremely important that suitable chairs are provided for individuals, similarly there are a variety of key board designs (e.g. split keyboards) which employees should have the opportunity to try. See also HSE booklet on upper limb disorders indexed opposite.