11 September 2002
Health and Safety in the Office
David Cowles, Buro Happold Health and Safety Advisor, highlights how the rising number of injuries and claims for compensation is raising employers’ awareness of Health and Safety.
The HSC has published proposals to amend a number of health and safety regulations in order to clarify issues raised by the EC on specific aspects of the UK’s implementation of EC directives. Regulations that are applicable to the office working environment are among those proposed for amendment. These regulations include: The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 and the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.
Although the amendments are considered to be relatively minor and not likely to greatly effect those complying with the existing law, it is clear that the level of compliance in general is in question. A noteworthy proposed amendment to the MHSWR is related to the so-called ‘civil liability exclusion’. The amendment would make it easier for employees to claim damages from their employer where they have suffered injury or illness as a result of their employer being in breach of the regulations. This should serve as a timely reminder to many of us to review our own Health and Safety management procedures.
All too often, when the subject of occupational health and safety is raised, our thoughts turn to more obviously hazardous working environments such as construction sites, agriculture, manufacturing, process and transport. The office environment does not immediately strike us as likely to present many hazards to health and safety. However, hazards exist and those associated with the use of display screen equipment and manual handling of items such as drinking water dispenser bottles and A4 paper boxes have the potential to cause serious problems.
It seems to be the case however, that concern over the perceived development of a ‘claims conscious culture’ and for the financial implications of injury to employees and others rather than the threat of the legal proceedings that are at last focusing some employers attention on their obligations. The growing number of successful damages claims, the size of the awards and the associated increased public awareness, particularly for Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI) should by now be sending a clear message to all employers.
Musculosketal disorder (MSD) is considered to be easily the most common form of work related illness in the UK. MSD includes injuries sustained as a result of manual handling and the use of display screen equipment. RSI is just one of several types of injury that can be caused by prolonged use of a keyboard and display screen equipment. RSI is often extremely painful and debilitating and is commonly characterised by the thickening of the fibrous sheath, covering the tendons that pass through the wrist to the hand. The resulting pain and movement restriction can have serious implications for continued employment. It has been estimated that 5.4 million working days were lost last year in sick leave caused by the illness (TUC figures). Other conditions that have been associated with use of display screen equipment are MSD resulting from poor posture and continued movement of head, neck and shoulders.
Injuries resulting from manual handling are perhaps more easily understood and arguably more predictable. Muscular strain to the lower back and disc problems resulting from unnecessary manual lifting and incorrect lifting technique are very common.
The above conditions are largely avoidable providing employers and employees pay attention to their obligations under the appropriate regulations and follow the ample guidance that is available.
Employers’ obligations with respect to health and safety in these areas are clearly set out in the Manual Handling Operations Regulations and the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations. Wider responsibilities are set out in the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations and the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations. An important requirement of all these regulations is the preparation of risk assessments for work activities and it is the lack of such risk assessments that has proved significant in successful prosecutions.
For further information and guidance on RSI and Upper Limb Disorders in general, refer to the HSC publication ‘Upper Limb Disorders In The Workplace’ (HSG 60).
For guidance on manual handling operations, visit the HSE website on http://www.hse.gov.uk
- free leaflets – manual handling – ‘Getting To Grips with Manual Handling’.
- Buro Happold is a multi-disciplinary international practice of consulting engineers established in 1976 offering civil and structural engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, quantity surveying, building services and environmental engineering, infrastructure and traffic engineering, geotechnical engineering, façade engineering, fire engineering, computational fluid dynamics analysis, access consultancy, project management, urban design and a range of specialist CAD services.
