Cost Benefit Analysis - Is a DSE Assessment worth it?

The simple answer … yes!

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The Office for National Statistics (ONS) latest research states that ‘an estimated 141.4 million working days were lost because of sickness or injury in the UK in 2018, the equivalent to 4.4 days per worker.’

In the same year, the ONS found that the medium full-time weekly wage was £569, equating to a day rate of £113.80.

This data could suggest that an employer lost £500.72 per employee for their sickness absences.

The ONS also showed that occupations that likely resulted in prolonged use of DSE had higher sickness absence rates, such as ‘Administrative and secretarial occupations’ in comparison to ‘Skilled trades occupations’.

They state that three of the most common reasons for sickness absence in 2018 were:

• musculoskeletal problems (including back pain and neck and upper limb problems)

• “other” conditions (including accidents)

• mental health conditions (including stress, depression and anxiety)

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Sadly, we know that musculoskeletal problems, fatigue and stress are all risks associated with DSE use. Therefore, it goes without saying that if those risks were assessed and mitigated against, the prevalence of them would drop and absenteeism reduce.

So is it worth it?

Again, yes!

By investing in a thorough one-off DSE Assessment for an employee that not only addresses the risks but educates the user to adopt long-term healthy habits, you can save approximately £500 per employee per year in lost days work.

Please get in touch here to discuss your requirements.

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Source data found here and here.

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DSE - what does it mean?

DSE stands for Display Screen Equipment. This could refer to any alphanumeric or graphic display screen, regardless of the display process involved - i.e. a computer or a laptop.

DSE legislation refers to a few other definitions that are also worth understanding.

User and Operator

This refers to anyone who habitually uses display screen equipment as a significant part of their normal work. The difference between a user and an operator usually comes down to an employed person as a user, rather than self-employed person as an operator.

What defines significant? The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) suggest that anyone that uses DSE daily, for more than an hour is considered a DSE User/Operator.

Workstation

 A workstation is made up of:

• DSE - i.e. a computer or laptop

• Input devices - i.e. keyboard and mouse

• Peripheral items - i.e. telephone and paper work

• The immediate work environment around the DSE - i.e. temperature, noise and space

Why do I need to know all this?

Sadly, working with DSE poses a number of risks, such as musculoskeletal aches and pains, eye and eyesight issues, fatigue and stress. DSE legislation states that:

• Every employer shall perform a suitable and sufficient analysis of workstations

• Any assessment made by an employer shall be reviewed if it is suspected to be no longer valid or if there has been a significant change - i.e. new location, job role or new equipment

• The employer shall reduce the risks identified in consequence of an assessment to the lowest extent reasonably practicable

• Every employer shall ensure that any workstation for DSE use meets the schedule of minimum requirements

By assessing the risks and making reasonable adjustments, we can reduce those risks mentioned above. If you have any questions on how to do this for your employees, please get in touch.

NexStand - K2 Portable Laptop Stand

I was very kindly sent the #Nexstand K2 Portable Laptop Stand to help enhance my home workstation set up. Nexstand have been in business since 2016 and I honestly can’t believe I have only recently discovered them.

The K2 is a great piece of kit. It’s height adjustable, compact, lightweight, affordable and very sturdy. My experience of ergonomic products also tells me I would be hard pushed to find another cost-effective, portable laptop stand that has such a vast range of height adjustability. For example, the top of my 13” 2011 MacBook Pro screen can raise to 500 mm from the desktop!

If I were to be critical, there is only one reason I would make a recommendation for an alternative laptop stand; that is if the user reported to regularly work with paper documents for copy-typing/referencing tasks, as the K2 does not feature a built-in document holder like some others on the market. But overall, since my discovery of Nexstand, this has been my go-to recommendation to help reduce the risks of awkward, forward postures that are so often associated with laptop use.

Thank you Nexstand for sending me this product, it is an effective solution for so many!

(Featuring Mia the cat, the sleepiest colleague I've ever had!)

Returning to the 'New Normal'?

The ‘new normal’; a phrase we say and hear a lot recently, thanks to the changes that Covid-19 has brought to a lot of us.

I happened to be on honeymoon when Covid-19 was pronounced as a global pandemic, enjoying the idyllic scenes of the Canadian Rockies from an RV, and slowly seeing the world close its borders over the news in an attempt to stop the spread. Sadly for us this meant that our honeymoon was cut short by a week and we arrived back home 4 days before the UK went into lockdown.

With lockdown, this meant turning all face to face assessments into virtual consultations. Although tricky for some, I had actually been involved in lots of telephone consultations in the past, when access to site was restricted for whatever reason, therefore I embraced the change quite easily. However, roll on 3, 4, 5, 6 months later… I was very much looking forward to seeing faces again and being back in the swing of it.

I happily returned to my version of the new normal earlier this month and it instantly felt like the last 6 months had never happened. It was lovely to be able to see the aspects of the workstation that I wanted and needed to see, without having to navigate through any video or audio issues. Strangely, it was also nice to get back in the car and drive to an appointment. I hadn’t realised I’d missed that me time until I had it back again.

So… what does my new normal look like. Well, I’m asking a few things of you the customer first of all:

• if you, or anyone in your household or bubble, are displaying any symptoms (a new and continuous cough, high temperature, a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste, or shortness of breath), that you please let us know as soon as possible before an onsite visit so we can rearrange the visit accordingly.

• Please ensure that there is sufficient space around the workstation for us to socially distance.

• Please open windows or doors to increase ventilation.

• If possible, please wear a face covering.

I am also doing the following;

• Rearranging the appointment if I, or anyone in my household or bubble, displays any symptoms as above.

• Wearing a face covering and face shield to help contain respiratory droplets.

• Regularly sanitising my hands throughout the appointment.

• Not touching any of your equipment or making any adjustments myself. Instead I will guide and educate you on how to make the adjustments.

• Limiting time spent in close proximity i.e. only to obtain the necessary anthropometric measurements.

Otherwise, our services remain the same; and I promise I will be smiling behind the mask!