5. Workplace with a visual display unit

Transcription

1 Contents 1. General regulations 2. Lighting 3. Heating and ventilation 4. First aid kits 5. Workplace with a visual display unit 6. Quiz 7. Netography and bibliography 1. General regulations Basic requirements of labour health and safety for buildings All buildings and rooms of the university, together with their adjacent premises and installations, in accordance with the purpose of their use, should comply with the requirements of labour health and safety and must guarantee: - safety of use, - fire safety (buildings should be furnished with appropriate hand-held fire fighting equipment), - environmental protection, - protection of interiors against onerous factors such as noise, vibrations, harmful radiation, effects of electromagnetic fields, air pollution etc. The issue of the technical condition of university buildings, roads and car parks is the responsibility of intendants and administrative directors of each faculty custodians of the buildings and their adjacent areas. Most repairs are done by university repair teams. Every autumn a special committee 1

2 (appointed by the Chancellor) whose members include the representatives of the Department of Buildings and Structures, the Department of the Chief Power Engineer, the Department of Fire Prevention, the Department of Occupational Health and Safety, accompanied by janitors perform an inspection of all university buildings and prepare a list of remarks which are taken into consideration in the process of the preparation of renovation plans for the upcoming year. All installations, systems and devices in university buildings, and in laboratories, workshops and specialist classrooms in particular, should: be equipped with safety devices protecting employees and students against injuries, effects of hazardous chemicals, electric shock, excessive noise, effects of vibrations, radiation and harmful or dangerous effects of other environmental factors, comply with rules of ergonomics, be maintained in a condition ensuring full operational functionality and labour safety. Installations and other technical devices that are temporarily non-operational, defective or being serviced should be clearly marked and secured in a manner preventing their start-up. Roads and passages In the university area the Rector is obliged to provide roads, passages for pedestrians, fire lanes, and maintain them in a state that does not pose a threat to those using them. The roads and passages should be adapted to the number of potential users and should be equipped with devices or other technical solutions enabling rainwater drainage. The surface of the roads, fire lanes and pedestrian passages must be flat, even and hard. Dangerous spots that pose a risk of tripping, falling or bashing (e.g. steps) should be appropriately marked. What is more, all university interiors frequented by 2

3 students, employees with students, or employees must have clearly marked evacuation routes enabling quick escape to the outside. Evacuation routes and passages leading to them must never be blocked in any way. University premises Premises frequented by people are divided into: premises where people stay permanently, i.e. the same people stay there for longer than 4 hours a day, premises where people stay periodically, i.e. the same people stay there from 2 to 4 hours a day. If premises are frequented by people (permanently or periodically) who study or work there, such premises are called study and workplaces. In a permanent study and workplace one employee should be provided with at least: 2 square metres of empty floor space, free of any equipment etc., 13 cubic metres of free room volume. The height of a permanent study and workplace must not be smaller than: 2.5 metre if the workplace houses no more than 4 employees and each has at least 15 cubic metres of empty room volume, free of any equipment, 3 metres if the workplace is free of any harmful substances, 3.3 metres if the workplace may not be free of harmful substances. Living quarters in student halls of residence should provide residents with at least 5 square metres of living space per person. 3

4 The condition of university premises and furnishings, and in particular: furniture, equipment, devices and installations, must not pose a threat to the life and health of those using the premises. In the buildings and premises where pilot research, chemical and physical experiments, or any other activities that may pose a threat to human life and health take place special precautions must be taken. In premises where research and experiments are carried out special instructions should be displayed with regulations concerning prevention of threat to human life and health. University premises must comply with the lighting, ventilation and heating regulations, as specified in the Minister of Labour and Social Policy Regulation of 26 September 1997 regarding general occupational health and safety rules. 2. Lighting. Appropriate lighting in workplaces and classrooms is vital for efficiency and safety of working or education process as well as for human health. A rational use of lighting, both natural illumination and artificial light sources, is not a simple matter. Incompetent usage of light may be one of numerous causes of accidents and may result in premature weakening of eyesight. Natural daylight Daylight is the most eye-friendly source of light. Thus, all classrooms should have access to natural daylight. The sizes of windows and skylights, and their location should: guarantee an appropriate level of illumination, ensure a desired direction of illumination, prevent excessive access of direct solar radiation to the interiors. The minimum illumination level for premises frequented by people has been achieved when the ratio 4

5 of glazing surface to floor surface is 1 to 8, and all windows and skylights are clean. Artificial lighting Pursuant to applicable laws, illumination of permanently frequented premises exclusively with artificial light is acceptable only in exceptional circumstances. If natural daylight is not recommended due to technological production procedures, special permission is issued by a provincial public health inspector, who will grant permission after consulting a regional labour inspectorate. Electric lighting should be perceived as a supplementary source of illumination to daylight, whenever the latter is insufficient. Depending on its purpose, lighting may be: basic: general illumination of permanently frequented premises that guarantees appropriate conditions for using the whole available space, local illumination of some parts of available space that require extra lighting, emergency used in premises where a failure of basic lighting could pose a threat to human life and health. An emergency lighting system should have an independent and automatically activated power supply, compound a lighting system combining general and spot illumination. 3. Heating and ventilation. Heating of workplaces and classrooms Air temperature is one of the parameters determining the conditions of working and studying and it should be adjusted to the purposes of the premises and activities which are carried out there. In workplaces and classrooms the temperature should be at a minimum level of 18 C (291 K), with an 5

6 exception of interiors where it ought to be lower for technological reasons. All temperatures below 10 C (283 K) should be perceived as outside temperatures that require the use of protective and anticold clothing. The Rector may temporarily suspend all classes at university if the temperature in classrooms falls below 18 C (291 K). Ventilation The principal purpose of ventilation is to create and maintain in interiors an atmospheric state that complies with the requirements of hygiene. Removal of used and polluted air and the introduction of fresh air is performed by means of mechanical or gravity ventilation systems. Natural ventilation is a process of air exchange happening as a result of natural forces, thermal lift and wind load. If it is caused by the difference between the density of air inside and outside the premises, it is described as a gravity ventilation system. Mechanical ventilation, which is an effect of working mechanical machinery that makes the air move, has several advantages over natural ventilation: clear air may be drawn from any spot where due to its composition it best meets the sanitary and hygiene requirements, prior to its introduction inside, outside air may be purified, heated or moistened, outside air may be easily distributed inside the building and directed precisely to workplaces, it enables the removal of harmful discharges exactly from the places where they are emitted, polluted air may be sent to a place where it becomes harmless or it may be purified prior to letting it out of the building. Due to the abovementioned advantages, mechanical ventilation is an irreplaceable solution to maintain a hygienic atmospheric working environment in the interiors. 6

7 4. First aid kits Each employer is obliged to provide their employees with a fully functional system of first aid and appropriate supplies to give it. In every university building, in a specially designated room that is accessible within the hours of classes and scientific research, there must be at least one portable first aid kit, equipped with all necessary first aid supplies, whose expiry date has not passed, and with an instruction manual on how to give first aid. The supplies and materials that have been used up must be regularly replenished. The collection of supplies and equipment of first aid kits is determined upon consultation with a medical doctor who provides employees with preventive healthcare services and after taking into consideration potential types of hazards and their intensification. 5. Workplace with a visual display unit (VDU) A VDU is a device to display information in an alphanumeric or graphic mode, regardless of the method of acquiring the picture. A workplace is a working space that, together with equipment and items of work, includes: basic equipment including a computer screen, a keyboard and other input devices, a central unit and a floppy disk drive, additional equipment including a printer, a scanner, a mouse and a trackball, auxiliary equipment including a table, a chair, a document holder, a footstool. The employer and/or the manager of the computer room is obliged to prepare workplaces with computer screens in a manner compliant with the minimum requirements of ergonomics and labour safety and health. Furthermore, they are equally obligated to provide employees and 7

8 students with a work or study plan that interchangeably involves activities with and without usage of a computer screen in order to avoid eye strain and promote working positions other than seated. The maximum allowed period of constant working time with a computer screen is one hour, after which time employees are entitled to a 5 minute break. Minimum requirements of ergonomics and labour safety and health for workplaces with computer screens Screen A computer screen must comply with the following requirements: characters on the screen should be clear and legible, the picture should be steady, free of pulsation or any other form of instability, parameters such as brightness and contrast should be easily adjustable depending on the illumination of the workplace, the monitor setup should enable tilting of the screen within a minimum range of 20 to the back and 5 to the front as well as a 120 rotation on its own axis (i.e. 60 in both directions), the screen should have an anti-glare surface or be equipped with an appropriate filter. Due to certain anthropometric attributes of some employees it may be necessary to use a separate base of the monitor or an appropriately adjustable table. Positioning of the screen against sources of light should limit the effect of glare or reflection. Keyboard A keyboard should be a separate item of basic workplace equipment and promote a body posture that does not result in muscle fatigue of upper limbs. In particular a keyboard should: 8

9 offer a feature to adjust the inclination angle within the range of 0-15, be of an appropriate height and fulfil the condition that in at least one position the height of the middle row of keys ( A, S etc.) should not exceed 30 mm as measured from the surface of the table, have a matt surface with contrasting and legible characters on keys. Table A table must allow the convenient deployment of all equipment, including the level difference in the positioning of the screen and keyboard. The surface of the table-top should be matt and, preferably, bright in colour. The width and the depth of the table should: offer sufficient space to operate equipment and perform duties, be placed a minimum 100 mm away from the front edge of the table, enable positioning of other equipment at an appropriate distance from the employee, i.e. within reach of their upper limbs and without forcing them to adopt unnatural poses. The height of the table and the chair seat should: promote a natural pose of the upper limbs while operating the keyboard (the position of arm against forearm should at least equal 90 ), be placed at an appropriate angle of downwards, facilitating the observation of the screen (measured from the horizontal line at the level of the employee s eyes to the line drawn from their eyes to the centre of the screen), and the upper ridge of the monitor should not be positioned higher than the eyes of the employee, provide ample legroom under the table-top. 9

10 Chair Being a part of workplace equipment, a chair should: be sufficiently stable and equipped with, at least, a five-arm wheeled base, have the backrest and seat of an appropriate size, guaranteeing a comfortable position at the desk and natural freedom of movement, have the seat with adjustable height ( mm, as measured from the floor level), have a tilting (5 to the front and 30 to the back) backrest with height adjustment, a shaped seat and backrest reflecting the natural bend of the spine and femoral section of the legs, rotate around its vertical axis (360 ), have armrests. If the employee s responsibilities involve using documentation of various kinds, their workplace must be equipped with a document holder with adjustable height, tilt and distance settings. The document holder should be installed in front of the employee or student between the computer screen and the keyboard or in any other place, but in a position minimising onerous movements of the head and eyes. A workplace with a computer screen should be easily accessible. The distance between the neighbouring monitors should be a minimum 0.6 metres, and at least 0.8 metres between an employee or student and the back of the neighbouring monitor. The distance between the eyes of adjacent employees or students should be within the range of mm, and illumination should guarantee an appropriate level of eye comfort. Relative humidity of air in premises where computer monitors are used should not be lower than 10

11 40%. The rules enclosed in the Minister of Labour and Social Policy Regulation of 1 December 1998, regarding occupational safety and health in workplaces with computer monitors, are not applicable to portable computer system (laptops) that are not meant to be used in a permanent workplace. Laptops are portable computer devices and their construction does not meet the demands of a permanent workplace compliant with the rules of ergonomics and the requirements of the pertinent ministerial regulation. If a laptop is used in offices or living quarters, there is always a possibility to minimise the negative influence on health resulting from an unnatural body posture when using the device. 6. Quiz 1. In a permanent study and workplace one employee should be provided with at least: - 2 square metres of empty floor space, free of any equipment etc., - 5 square metres of empty floor space, free of any equipment etc. 2. In a permanent study and workplace one employee should be provided with at least: - 15 cubic metres of free room volume, - 13 cubic metres of free room volume. 3. If a workplace or classroom is free of any harmful factors, its minimum height must be: - 3 metres, metre. 11

12 4. Are the rules enclosed in the Minister of Labour and Social Policy Regulation of 1 December 1998, regarding occupational safety and health in workplaces with computer monitors, applicable to portable computer system (laptops)? - yes, - no. 5. Premises where people stay permanently are defined as premises where employees stay longer than: - 4 hours a day, - 2 hours a day. 6. Due to reasons of ergonomics, the maximum allowed period of constant work with a computer screen should not exceed: - 1 hour, - 2 hours. 7. Netography and bibliography Netography Ergonauta website: workplace, ergonomics parameters. Website of the National Labour Inspectorate website: Kręgosłup masz tylko jeden. Website of the Central Institute of Labour Protection: Stanowisko z komputerem 12

13 Bibliography Bogdan Rączkowski (2004): BHP w praktyce, ODDK, Gdańsk. Ryszard Mikulski (1999): Bezpieczeństwo i ochrona człowieka w środowisku pracy, CIOP, Warsaw. Tadeusz Chowański (1992): Materiały szkoleniowe z zakresu bezpieczeństwa i higieny pracy dla nauczycieli akademickich, Łódź Univeristy Press, Łódź. Andrzej Najmiec (2002): Ergonomia oprogramowania od przepisów do praktyki, Bezpieczeństwo Pracy No. 5. Marzena Mieszkowska (2008): Praca z komputerem przenośnym laptopy, Bezpieczeństwo Pracy, No. 12. Acts Minister of Infrastructure Regulation of 12 April 2002 regarding required technical conditions of buildings and their location (published in Dz. U. No. 75, Item 690 with amendments). Labour Code Act of 26 June 1974 (published in Dz.U. from 1998, No. 21, Item 94 with amendments). Minister of Labour and Social Policy Regulation of 26 September 1997 regarding general rules for safety and occupational hygiene (published in Dz.U. 2003, No. 169, Item 1650 with amendments). Minister of Science and Higher Education Regulation from 5 July 2007 regarding occupational safety and health in tertiary institutions (published in Dz.U., No. 128, Item 897). Minister of Labour and Social Policy Regulation of 1 December 1998, regarding occupational safety and health in workplaces with computer screens (published in Dz.U. No. 148, Item 973). Polish Standard PN-EN Light and illumination. 13

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