Protect your workers with the right equipment


Health and Safety E Learning

In this day and age of compensation claimsDSE Risk Assessment and Training are Health
for even the most minor strains and accidentsand Safety requirements and are quite simple
it pays all employers to comply with Healthto practice. There are recommended guidelines
and Safety regulations to cover themselves asfor the angle of a VDU, the positioning of a
well as their employees. The Health andkeyboard, mouse, desk and chair. All should
Safety Executive regulations have, for abe set up for the individual employee to
number of years now, made it a legalensure  comfortable  working  positions.
requirement for all employers to assess and
reduce  the  risk  to staff in the workplace.Employers are liable for the cost of sight
tests for VDU operators when requested but
Some employers, pressed for time as well asthere is no evidence that, when used
money, find this a problem. Whole work daysproperly, a VDU screen would cause any health
are sometimes lost, venues need to be bookedproblems. Only when there is unnecessary
and paid for and transport provided. All thisglare, bad posture or a wrongly positioned
comes at the expense of the employer butunit does a problem occur. There is certainly
surely cannot be as costly as the amount ofno evidence to suggest there is any worsening
sick days taken in the name of work relatedof  eyesight  from  use  of  a  VDU.
health  problems.
So, employees do not want to be injured at
Figures from the Health and Safety Executivework and employers do not want to spend man
for 2003/04 show that 448,000 British workershours and hard earned profits on Health and
were reported to have suffered from workSafety Training. However, there is a
related musculo-skeletal disorders (thesolution. It is now possible to train all
umbrella term for Repetitive Strain Injury).employers and their staff in all Health and
This was a staggering increase of 52,000 fromSafety aspects without ever having to leave
the  previous  year.their badly positioned, overly bright VDU or
their  wonky  chair.
Direct and indirect costs to society amounted
to a phenomenal 5.7 pounds billion in theIt is now possible to meet all the legal
year 2004/5. The Health and Safety Executiverequirements of Health and Safety Training on
attributes this to the 450,000 cases ofline. It is called Health and Safety
workers absent through back complaints ande-learning. Risk assessments are set out for
375,000 through back and upper limbemployers and employees can set their own
disorders. Amazingly, they even report sevenagenda for DSE training thus reducing impact
year old children to be suffering RSIon work schedules. Training can be completed
complaints so schools also need to implementover time at a pace that suits the individual
the  regulations.and training certificates can be printed out
at  the  conclusion.
Repetitive Strain Injury is a common
occurrence in offices where staff spend theThis solution is cost effective, requiring
majority of their day sat in front of a VDU,minimal resources and a Learning Development
or DSE. Display Screen Equipment is a broaderAdvisor is assigned to the company involved
term for VDU and covers all the equipment atto keep track of the training. It is also
a desk including keyboard and mouse, whichrecommended that results be saved to a
have been the cause of Carpal Tunnel Syndromedatabase to establish an audit trail and
when  used  incorrectly.prove your company's compliance with Health
and Safety Regulations.



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