Risk assessment in an office-what to expect?

[JanieLovesLuckySocks]

I work 9-5 at a desk in an office of around 17 people. What sort of risk assessment should be carried out? My work don't seem to do anything correctly and I've had nothing so far.

TIA

Mine was making sure i knew how to adjust my chair to support my back properly, that sort of thing.

Tbh in my workplace (nhs) it was more of a tickbox exercise than anything helpful. Think I was told to take regular breaks to stretch my legs and not lift anything (which I was already doing).

If I remember correctly you get one in every trimester or month or something my memory is rubbish.

ticking boxes on a form. Do you stand up all day for work or have to do any heavy lifting? if not, it's about your chair and that's about it.

In a small company I will be amazed if you get one, I certainly didn't. However if I needed things to be adjusted I told them they needed to be done. For example they were spraying some glue right near me which made me feel sick and I wasn't happy breathing in the fumes so made them do it in another room. I also was expected to work at an exhibition for extremely long days with virtually no toilet breaks and no lunch break and standing up all the time. I told them I would only work so many hours but over the busiest part of the day when they did really need me, there was really no need for me to be working at the beginning or end. Normally my boss rolls her eyes if I say I need to go to the loo but I made it clear if I needed to go I needed to go even if I was with a client as I didn't have the same ability to wait!
I also asked to leave slightly early by about 15 minutes one day a week to attend a yoga class, i cut my lunch break by 15 minutes to make up for it. Basically instead of them risk assessing me I had to be much more proactive about asking for what I needed. Obviously don't go over the top otherwise you will fall put with your colleagues and boss very fast however if you need small adjustments then make sure they are done.

Mine was a check that I fitted the office chair and that keyboard and screen were correctly adjusted. And they alerted the floor fire warden and I was out in the list of 'people to check if there's an emergency'.

There really isn't much else needed in an office based job. You are expected to be able to ask for screen breaks yourself anyhow. Unless there is also lifting, hazardous materials or other physical demands, then adjustment isn't much required.

Of course, if any issues arise in out PG (hope not) and your HCPs advise further restrictions in any activities, you will need to ask for immediate reassessment.

Mine was a form with a load of tick boxes xx

Thanks everyone, that's a great help! X

You should be risk assessed straight away and have it reviewed monthly or when your situation changes (which is usually the same sort of time). For example, I was RA'd at 8 weeks, in line with company policy, but then fell down the stairs at 13 weeks, so RA was reviewed (to helpfully include a recommendation to wear non-slip safety shoes!). Some reviews were just a tick box exercise as no changes needed to be made, but some, when I had carpal tunnel, or when I got too heavy to move very quickly meant I had to have different keyboards and rest breaks structured into my day.
My work babied me massively, and most of it was common sense, but it was in their interests as much as mine to show due dilligence, and enabled me to work full time much longer than I expected!
A lot of places are still a bit backward in terms of the rights of pregnant workers, so you may have to take the lead, but you absolutely should have at least one.