ergonomic desk and chairs - do schools have to provide them for staff?

[NoelleHawthorne]

I have lower back pain and am in the process of getting it diagnosed and treated.

I once heard someone say that under H and S, employers have to make sure your desks and chairs are all measured correctly etc.

Is this true ? I have come crap old chair

When I temped in admin they'd fall over themselves getting special chairs, foot rests, wrist rests, and vouchers for glasses/sight tests if you used a "VDU" (it was a while ago!).

In teaching? It probably depends who you are. Some people seem to be more likely to get these things. For most of us I expect management would say you shouldn't be sitting enough for it to be a problem. (And who has enough PPA time to spend it sitting and marking etc?)

OH MY GOD VDUs. I had forgotten that term

me! I mark ALL THE TIME. And quite often sit down while the kids work

Yes, school should respond if you have back pain.

Yes - somewhere on one of the Government websites there's a Health & Safety questionnaire you can work through and it gives recommendations etc. If you do it, I'm told the school has to respond and show how it's met the recommendations.

When I started at my school, the nearest thing I had to a desk was a child sized computer table - my keyboard was at the same level as my knees, and that's with my chair at the lowest possible height. I'd type with my arms on my thighs. Once I'd done the online thingy, they magically found a desk with everything at the proper height!

Under H and S DSE regulations you have to be assessed at your workstation and it has to be suitable for you (they also have to pay for eye tests and you can not be forced to use a computer if you are pregnant).

Request an assessment.

If you have a medical problem you might also be covered by DDA and Equality Act, which is good because if you get an assessment done by a DWP person then there is (unless changed recently) gov money to pay for 'reasonable adjustments' to keep you in your job.