VDU Health and Safety

[dr_jo]

Hi,
I'm hoping for a bit of help/advice from you guys.
I'm currently working in a call centre, 5 days a week. My working environment is really awful, and I'm worried that it's impacting on my health - I come home every day with a headache and fatigued eyes. As far as I can tell there's a number of things wrong with the office, such as;
glare on the screens from windows directly behind me,
no foot rests, arm rests etc,
the wrong height on computer screens (which aren't adjustable),
insufficient working space,
monitor viewing distance being too small,
desks backing onto each other far too closely (for people to move down the corridor between us, we all have to move)
etc.

I have tried raising some of these issues (especially the glare on the screen) with my supervisor and manger, both of whom have ignored the problem, although they are moving me to a new desk on Monday, which I know still has the same problems. A group of us wish to write to the CEO, highlighting these issues, but I'm having trouble knowing what our rights are.

I've had a look on the Health and Safety Website, but I find it totally confusing. Does anyone know what the regulations guiding working in a call centre, and long term VDU use are? What are we entitled to, and what is just "good practice".

Also, if we get no response from going higher in the company, what is our best course of action?

Thanks

Jo

 

[Tom]

http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/index.htm

 

[TdC]

ergonomics of all forms is a really big thing with the company I work for, even though most of us tend to have the odd spell of RSI playing up badly despite the measures at our disposal to deal with the issue.

legally I have no idea where you stand, but I can say that your manager(s) ignoring the issue is a pretty bad sign. write to the CEO by all means, be polite and helpful and clear as you can about the problems and hope for the best. include pictures, drawings, offers to show him around, any and everything you and your coworkers can think of to be as precise as possible.

your CEO could be a great person or a total jerk. if it comes to the latter then I'd seriously consider working elsewhere. after all at the end of the day it's *your* health they're being inconsiderate about. good luck!

 

[Gumbo]

Is there a free eye-test thingie for vdu operators, and how much use of a vdu does there need to be before you become an operator. That's a couple of questions one of the girls at my place has asked lately, seems as good a thread as any to ask.

 

[tris-]

yeh good thread. atm im having the same issues. its getting upto 32degrees in my office, i was told that is illegal although i have no proof. the air con units blow out hot air! we dont have arm rests, foot rests, we dont have chairs that support the back and the desk is cramped and all wires are tired together so you cant move around. people have caught scabies (!) in there. this was decided by the doctors they visited.

total shit hole.

 

[Tom]

There is no upper limit on temperatures in the workplace AFAIK, just a lower limit.

 

[Insane]

Was there ever a workstation assessment carried out on yourself (or others) when you started? normally it will involve your manager/supervisor/H&S appointed employee discussing and doing practical work with you to assess the workstation.
(one problem is that with you being in a call centre you get moved quite a bit, and as such should fill out a workstation assessment every time you sit down at a new desk) this is basically an ergonomic test thing, where you setup your chair, monitor, keyboard and mouse to be most "suitable" for your work.

one thing that might be helpful is to print out the VDU Guidelines from the HSE website
(http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg36.pdf) and attach them to the letter you will send (again, call centres are quite notorious for "skipping" reports, if its paper-based and documented then they cant forget about it)

One thing that used to be done at my old job, was where employees requested a meeting with a member of HR, the HSE appointed employee (usually senior level) and their supervisor/manager. by airing the issues in front of HR (and normally recorded) it makes it harder for the company to back out of things when issues are raised ( the usual "oh we were not informed of this" bullshit they pull)

if all else fails, see if you can get a digital camera into work (i know some places dont like this due to confidential data being displayed on screen) and take photographs of your conditions, record issues and then submit to the HSE, but beware this WILL get the company closed down and you may loose your job

tris-: HSE has a minimum temperature recommendation in regarding working conditions, but not a "high temperature" condition, but there is a nic "best practice" regarding temperature where it has to be "comfortable" for all employees. if at all get yourselves a small wall thermonitor and record the temperatures when it gets uncomfortable, then pass it in writing across to your manager or the call centre manager.

as for the free eye-test VDU thing, its part of HSE again, im not certain on the numbers but i believe (dont quote me) that if you use a VDU more than 4 hrs a day, its required for you to have an eye test every 6 months (company paid) but most companies will "forget" to tell you this because of the costs involved, specifically on call centre staff!

i've seen many a people back-stabbed by call centre managers for the simple fact that its costing them too much money and operational costs to deal with.

 

[SAS]

dr_jo your call centre is breaking so many H&S rules the health and safety execuative would have a field day.

I work in a data entry centre. Each of us have to fill in a VDU assessment every 6 months and recieve one free eye test and a % paid towards any glasses.

Desks and monitors have to be fully adjustable. Wrist/mouse rests should be available, and foot rests of some sorts should be provided, together with a chair that supports your lower back.

Glare on your screen can severley damage your eyes over a short space of time. Anti glare screens are pretty cheap and should again be provided to you on request.

Failure to offer you any of the above and if you develop an injury it means you have a nice case to sue the company.

I would write direct to the Health and Safety Execuative instead of the company CEO, or possibly write to the CEO first with a foot note about how in 7 days you will contact the H&S Execuative unless the CEO gets back to you.

You should be able to join the CWU (Communications Workers Union) who can give you some legal muscle and might be a good idea should you contact anyone outside your line managers office.

Tris- there is no upper limit on temperature, although if employees start to pass out then the company has a duty to then do something about the heat . As for scabies I can add lice and fleas from my workplace

 

[dr_jo]

Thanks for all the replies, it's really helpful.
My parents say I should have had a VDU assesment when I started, but I've worked there 3 times, and each time I started there's been no assesment at all. The part that's really bugging me is the glare on the screen, and not being able to move the screen height etc. I'm only working there for another 5 weeks this summer, so I'm wondering whether it's worth kicking up a fuss, but I am coming home every day with a headache.

 

[Shovel]

Definately kick up a fuss. Rah!

Firstly, because hearing the horror stories your come home with each day is giving me a hunger for vengence even if not you, and secondly (and perhaps more seriosuly) you'd be doing the other members of staff now and in future a favour. You happen to be more clued up and inclined than any of them so it's a good opportunity. If they're still willing to sign the letter to the CEO or HSE, that probably adds megatonnes to the strength of the case.

5 weeks is a long time to work and is should hopefully be plenty long enough to see something done about (or see the company shut down, which would be a laugh).

I swear I'm starting to dislike your place of work more than you do…

 

[venus]

Surely only working there for five weeks makes it even easier to kick up a fuss? because you know that at some point in the very near future you wont be there anymore, therefore if they dont like it and try to make your life hard you wont have to put up with it for long. Also five weeks is enough time for you to sustain some damage to your eyes i would have throught? and finally if we all went round thinking like this and never stick up for ourselves then we would get no where is life so go for it!

 

[dr_jo]

Thanks Venus, I was just having a demotivated day. Letter is being drafted as we speak. I'll post a draft when it's ready.

Jo

 

[tris-]

cool, if it applies to me too can i steal it?

 

[dr_jo]

Feel free to Not sure it will entirely, but no problem.

Dear "manager's name",

The purpose of this letter is to raise certain Health and Safety issues, which we feel need attention. Having tried to convey these verbally, we feel a written version may result in action being taken.

The Health and Safety Regulations governing the use of Visual Display Unit (VDU’s) and the environment in which we work are designed to ensure that there is no damage to our health whilst working with them. We regularly suffer eye strain, headaches, arm, back and neck pains, caused by problems within the office, and do not feel that our health should be damaged by our work place.

Every employee who works with a VDU should have a VDU assessment when they start with the company, and every time they change to a new computer. This is to ensure that the equipment provided is adequate for their needs, and to identify any issues which need to be rectified. None of us have ever taken this assessment.

The VDU screens we use should be fully adjustable, to allow the angle, and also height of the screen to be altered, so that the top of the screen is level with the eyes of the operator. Whilst this is possible with the newer flat screens, the older screens do not allow height adjustments.

The glare on the screens of the operators working with their back to the windows is unacceptable. Whilst occurring at a different level on each screen, this is a significant problem, which needs to be rectified. The machines facing the windows also pose difficulties, as the background is too bright behind the screen, which can also cause eye problems or headaches.

Closing the blinds in the room does help to reduce some of these effects, although not sufficiently to be a full solution. However, this makes the whole room unacceptably dark, and causes problems for those people not working with a VDU; reading letters for example.

Employees working with VDUs for a significant part of the day should have access to foot rests, arm rests and wrist rests should they desire them. These are not available.

Yours Sincerely

 

[Insane]

i know it might be a bit sly, but make sure to mention in the letter that if its not carried out in a suitable timeframe (normally a month) you will need to pass the information across to the Health and Safety Executive to assess the situation further.

its compulsary for a company to assess HSE issues, normally a Risk Assessment needs to take place in ALL areas of work.

Worksmart has a FAQ regarding your health in the call centres, also asks some questions like abusive callers and problems with your voice, if your call centre has internet access (which i doubt ) pass that link around everyone and let them find out information, it lists documents and information that might be helpful.

also the HSE released a HELA Call centre Advice document in december '01 which details a bit more clearly certain laws and issues.

One thing you might find is that your Manager or "Team Leader" hasn't been made aware of this all and is in the dark as much as you are, so it might be worthwhile to CC in HR and a Member of Senior Management into the letter, so it doesnt get "lost" and its made aware of higher up the chain of management.

 

[dr_jo]

Well, I've been asked to attend a meeting on Thursday to discuss the letter. My colleague who also signed it is having a meeting tomorrow, and will let me know how it goes.
Basically everything that I mentioned is actually on the company intranet, so I don't think they can wriggle out of it.
I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Draylor]

but I've worked there 3 times

So you know the working environment is terrible, but you still go back?

And thats why these call centres get away with it.

 

[dr_jo]

I go back because I need the job, and the money. And I am trying to do something about it. I used to be a timid person who didn't know what her rights were, but now I'm trying to get it fixed.

 

[SAS]

So you know the working environment is terrible, but you still go back? And thats why these call centres get away with it.

By walking away is how call centres get away with it. By making a stand for your rights is the only way to make change.

 

[Draylor]

Of course.

Id just assumed there was no shortage of call centres, so having previously worked in one that had 'issues' dr_jo might have tried looking for work in another rather than going back to the problems.

It'll be interesting to see what comes from the letter/meeting, but I expect it'll be very little indeed.

 

[inactionman]

Well, I've been asked to attend a meeting on Thursday to discuss the letter. My colleague who also signed it is having a meeting tomorrow, and will let me know how it goes.
Basically everything that I mentioned is actually on the company intranet, so I don't think they can wriggle out of it.
I'll let you know how it goes.

I know I'm slighly paranoid, but it's a bit suspicious that they are organising 'meetings' seperately when you signed the letter together. Have an escape plan ready, particularly if you don't see the colleague after the meeting tomorrow!

 

[SAS]

They can't fire her after writing a letter, if they do she has a nice tidy case of unfair dismissal. Pay out should be enough to cover the rest of your holidays

 

[inactionman]

Except, from the sound of it, she's a temporary worker (or at least not been there full-time for a year), everyone has little or no employment rights until after the 1st year. You'd only be able to get them for things like race discrimination etc, they can just claim that she 'didn't fit in', and not mention the real reason, I've seen it happen enough, particularly when I was temping!

 

[dr_jo]

I worked there as a full time member of staff for a year, and have been back since for two periods of holiday work, so claiming I didn't fit in might not really hold water! I also have a contract which specifys my end date.
Meeting with my manager and an unnamed other will take place at 3pm on Monday, so I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Shovel]

A small update for you all.

Jo and her colleague went in for their individual meetings with their manager on Monday. It goes like this:

Her colleague got shouted down, told that Jo had pushed her into signing the letter and was also told that she was ‘living in a dream world if she thinks anything will get done before she leaves’ at the end of the summer. This is the colleague who's currently sitting on the corner of a desk.

Jo was also bullied. She was also told that her previous verbal complaint didn't count as an official complaint.

Anyway, Jo is now completely stressed about the whole thing (her depression has flared up again as it is. The doctor has given her a sick note for a week for that). Basically though, the bullying response from the employer has been too much.

Jo's trying to relax with her time off, really doesn't want to go back there. It's a difficult call between trying to get something done about the problem and the whole thing being too much of an emotional drain to see through.

Currently I expect that she'll just hand in her notice (she can cope without the money) and give the health and safety bods a ring for sake of those friends who are still working there.

So yeah, it's all gone a bit astray from the plan.

 

[Insane]

I know Jo probably doesn't need the stress, I went through hell with my previous Employer (MM Group FYI, the large call centre that handles UKPA and National Blood Service Calls) where i was victimised and they tried to create evidence to fire me

I would step above the managers head and report it to senior HR and if she's employed by Agency (entirely possible) CC in the head of the agency she is employed by. Detail that you reported HSE issues (attach the letter you sent) and detail that you were taken into an informal meeting by yourself with your manager, who then bullied and victimised you, specify in detail what he said to you and how he victimised you, and due to that you've had to take a week off on the sick due to the stress. get your colleague to do similar and hand your letters in at the same time to Senior HR.

In July 2004, the Employment Law was updated granting temporary and agency staff the exact same rights as a full-time employee, and they have to treat you the same as a full time employee.

just spotted you had an "un-named other" in the meeting, did the person turn up? if they did specify their name in the letter and say they witnessed everything, if they didnt turn up then its your word against his, but with your colleague getting similar treatment in a similar meeting over HSE details his defence gets weakened drastically.

remember if you dont stand up to it, other people will suffer

p.s. pass your original letter across to the Health & Safety Executive as soon as possible.

 

[inactionman]

Pretty much what I expected, never go into these types of meeting alone! Basically this is as they can pretty much say anything they like, as if there are any disputes it will be your word against their's (and there will be more than one of them). As Jo found out, it's also very easy to bully people in these situations. Warning bells started going off in my head when the meetings were arranged seperately for a joint issue!

If they aren't complying with Health and Safety legislation they probably aren't complying with software licensing, so if you're feeling vindictive report them to FAST (if they are guilty they'll get clobbered with a 3x fine, and have to buy the software, you'll also get a nice reward for doing so. If they aren't guilty then it still costs them a lot of money to demonstrate compliance).

Also you are legally entitled to any information they may have recorded about you, and they should give you a copy for a maximum of a £10 fee (it costs a lot more than that to process), it's called a Data Subject Access Request, and you'll need to make it in writing.

 

[tris-]

this sort of happend to me. when i started i was doing ALOT better than the other peeps, so they assumed i did something wrong all the time to make my self look better. this of course makes other people look bad and big cheese says "ermm, we cant have people looking good and not others."
i said "ok prove this and i will gladly leave". i continued as normal and was monitored and recorded for most of the day for about 2 weeks. obviously, i was doing everything very well and i did continue as i did before the monitoring.
after they had proof i wasnt doing wrong they never even said sorry. so i was rather upset through the whole damn day (i find it really offencsive to be called a liar u see).

all im trying to say is stay strong, the managers are just other people too. they get paid more but they are still people who try to make them selves look good and think that this will make others feel bad about them selves.

end of the day they still wank off to bestiality porn, wear female clothes, use vegetables for sex and shit on each others faces.

 

[Chilly]

Fuckign bastards, I hope you feel better and get your revenge hat on dr_jo! If I was in your situation I'd be much more aggressive, but then I am a bloke and I am a mean old motherfucker anyway. Perhaps record the next meeting you have with them with an mp3 player or something? At least then they can't abuse you and then pretend it never happened. I have no idea how legal it is to record that kind of thing without telling them, but even if you do have to tell them it will at least mean they be a bit more civil - or just say nothing at all until you turn it off

 

[Dakkath]

It also wouldn't hurt to talk to the HR department about the way you felt you were 'shouted down' by the organiser of the meeting and ask that one of them accompany you to the next one (if one happens) as an impartial observer.

These management types who believe they can bully their way out of trouble usually think twice if you have an observer of your own there...