HEALTH AND SAFETY AUTHORITY Ref: DSE Summary / Regulation 72: Duties of Employer Working with display screen equipment Display screen equipment is a term that includes any work equipment that incorporates an electronic visual display of information. The most familiar is the computer workstation that is on the desk of most office workers and many in industry. However, it also includes other equipment that forms part of process controls and other equipment. RISK: Musculoskeletal Injuries Work on DSE is the cause of a range of musculoskeletal injuries, which are the most frequent cause of lost work time in Ireland and the UK. These include conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, tenosynovitis, lower and upper back pain. These can result from repetitive motion when using the keyboard and mouse as well as poor posture. Be Good: The risks can be managed by following good ergonomic principles when choosing equipment and designing workstations.
Legal Requirements Guide to the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007. Chapter 5 of Part 2: Display Screen Equipment. (EU Directive 1990) Assessment Assessments must be carried out for all employees whose work requires them to use display screen equipment. The assessment must address the following factors:
© The task itself – how much time the employees
©
spends on display screen work each day, how long does an employee work continuously without a break, the degree of concentration which is required, the degree of keyboard and mouse work etc. The equipment – the type of screen, keyboard, mouse etc and the ease with which they can be used. Can the screen be easily read, do characters appear on the screen after input, with no delay. Can the screen be adjusted for height, brightness, contrast etc.
© The furniture – is there adequate space to © ©
adjust the lay-out of the equipment on the desk? Can the chair be adjusted for height, back support, tilt, seat depth and thigh support? The environment – is the lighting, acoustics, temperature and humidity sufficient to create comfortable working conditions. The individual – does the employee have any special feature, e.g. very tall, very short, preexisting medical conditions, which may mean that specific requirement may be necessary.
Elsewhere: Not only should the workers in the office have the DSE work assessed but the regulations also apply to other groups such as:
© Home workers. © Temporary or part-time staff, including agency workers.
Employees: 1. Are entitled to have their workstation assessed/ re-assessed. 2. Must be trained in the use of the workstation and be given information about health and safety factors. 3. Must also have periodic break or changes of routines away from VDU’s. 4. Must be advised that they are entitled to an appropriate eye eyesight tests (or may opt for either). 5. Must be instructed in how to adjust chairs properly in order to find the best sitting posture to avoid the long term problems of muscular strain and backache. 6. Entitled to a minimum office space per person of 4.65 sqm. Training Following the assessments, control measures must be put in place, which should be based on good ergonomic principles. All employees should then be educated in the correct use of this equipment and the optimum way to set up their workstation. They must also be informed of the employer’s policies on issues such as eyesight tests breaks etc.
chairs@studioline.ie
BACK PAIN Posture Sitting should be a dynamic activity. The inter-vertebral discs cannot absorb fluid when under strain.
Relative pressure exerted on the intervertebral discs in %
HOW IS YOUR CHAIR?
Good Chairs Pay for themselves only when demonstrated and installed properly.
BACK PAIN Dynamic Seating = Correct Features “The best posture is the next posture” Holding the same position for a period of time, known as static load, can cause pain and fatigue. That is why it is important to encourage frequent movement and posture change. It is good to change position and move. There is no ‘correct’ posture that is best for an entire work day - so furniture that allows for the small unconcious movements that a person makes is ideal. Ref: Furniture Industry Research Association publication - ‘Furniture Design Toolkit’
43% - Strained muscles 28% - Excessive strain and bone erosion 20% - Unevenly distributed strain 18% - Bad posture
EN 1335-1
The annex has been produced and submitted to the BSI for inclusion in the Part 1 of BS EN 1335. The informative annex incorporates the following statement on the display screen equipment regulations:‘The European Display Screen Equipment Directive (90127OIEEC) has minimum requirements for adjustability of chairs. The HSE guidance document on the regulations (L26) includes the following statement in Annex A, clause 1 7: The schedule requires the seat to be adjustable in height (i.e relative to the ground) and the seat back to be adjustable in height (also relative to the ground) and tilt. Provided that the chair meets these requirements and allows the user to achieve a comfortable posture, it is not necessary for the height or tilt of the seat back to be adjustable independently of the seat.
Actual 1990 text:
EN 1335 : Type A office work chair The type A chair is essentially the same as the type B chair with the following additional requirements: Seat depth shall be adjustable. Chairs with non-adjustable seat depth can not be considered to be type A chairs. Seat inclination shall be adjustable. Chairs with non-adjustable seat inclination can not be considered as type A chairs. The seat inclination must be adjustable by at least six degrees. Seat height shall be 400mm minimum and the adjustment range should be at least 120mm. For the type A chairs, adjustments to the backrest are independent of the seat surface. Type B office work chair This is the most common office chair. Type B chairs can have independent backrest adjustments in relation to the seat surface, but it is not compulsory.
Dimensionally, they are the same as type A chairs except for the minimum seat height, which is 420mm and the minimum seat height adjustment range, which is 100mm.
Type C office work chair The type C chairs are dimensionally similar to the type A chairs, but can have: Reduced seat height adjustment range (minimum adjustment range of 80mm instead of 100mm) Extra long seat depth No independent backrest tilt in relation to the seat
As you can see from the guidelines above, Type A chairs have many more adjustments and must have adjustable seat depths and angles. Type B, are those most commonly used in UK offices. Both types are likely to comply with DSE regulations. Type C are the very large chairs with bulky upholstery and limited adjustability. These chairs may or may not satisfy the minimum requirements of the DSE regulations.
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CHAIRS • ERGONOMICS • ECONOMICS
PROFESSIONAL SEATING
M O V E Right Chair
Right Position
Right Features
All Right!
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