Do hotdesking policies contravene health & safety rules?
Question:
I would love to hear what others think about this.
I'm just a bit miffed at the moment because I'll not in a position to speak up, and every day I have to use a different desk/chair set-up, the computers vary in resolution/screen size and even the lighting conditions differs depending on which bit of the building I'm in.
Answer:
Yes I think they do, I worked in a call centre who claimed we would have to hot desk in order to help seating plans.
We researched into it as a principle and discovered that the amount of time going through the health and safety check list on a daily basis and transfering all files and items needed just didnt make if viable. More time was spent getting seating sorted and in some cases computers moved to the other side of the desk that was make taking calls in the 1st hour of the day.
Also we found it hard to keep track of where our personal items and files needed were.
You need to address it with your supervisor, do it in a proffesional way. Note how long it takes you to get orgainised and explain that you dont want your work to suffer because of this. Ask he/she if they can see a way forward, obviously in the short term its difficult but if they can give you something to work for maybe it will help.
Good luck
As long as the company have *made you aware* that chairs and screens can be adjusted, and the best position to sit, and to take regular breaks from the work-station then they are covered.
With respect, thinking that using a different desk is a health and safety issue is the reason for the crazy health and safety issues that companys have to deal with these days - sending people on courses to ensure they are safe when getting a file down from a shelf etc...
It's madness.
The first thing to remember is that this H&S thing is all about covering yor companies ars* they dont really care about you .
They just want a team of 'battery hens' to do a job!
Your 'gripe' about desk / chair set up can be easily sorted by you changing the set up yourself !
I think just about every company now has its own H&S rep, so have a word with him, (or her)!
I know trade unions are now 'taboo' but at the same time your company is only looking after its own interests. Complain where ever you think its required.
It's amazing just how many folk think that a company is there to provide you (or I) with a job, they are certainly not!
The people forced to put up with this kind of treatment are the ones most likely to think that they should not say any thing, as soon as they start to think that it is OK to complain the boss has given them a proper place to work.
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