Offices and health

Recently we have been moved to the basement of our offices. I and my collegues sit in front of VDUs for 95% of our working day. We do sometimes have to work overtime which has been as long as 16 hours (not very often). All of this, in front of VDUs, in a basement with no natural lighting. Where do I go to find out if this is legal and what can be done about it?

Contact the Health and Safety Authority immediately.

I was put to work in a basement with no natural light, sewer smells continuously, dampness and dirt and traffic fumes coming in as the basement was under ground level, men urinating against a small opening in the ceiling and the result running down the walls, the toilet being used by both female and male staff, building work dust and gravel covering every surface, no proper desk for computer work resulting in damage to wrists arms and shoulders this being now permanent to my life and hampering me in my daily life as the strength has gone from my arms and i get very tired and sore if I do too much, the gas company coming in because we thought the sewerage smells were gas leaks at times, I had actual sewerage coming up through the floors when the pipes got stuck, basically the prisoners in a jail have better living conditions and where I am the whole place is dark and when I come up from my hole in the ground at lunch time or to go home my eyes take ages to adjust to the light of day, i go down the road squinting, i have headaches and the lights make it hard to see my screen and basically my life is hell on earth or under the earth. I was kept isolated in this basement so that I was exposed to bad treatment from others. When i complained to my boss on so many occasions i cannot number them he just ignored me. the only way i did get justice (if you can call it that) was by making a complaint about the harassment and i was able to bring up all my other complaints about my workplace, but he still ignored me and we ended up in court. I know the last message said go to h & s but when you are alone this will cause problems of its own and you can be just left to further bad treatment. I think h & s should be going around to all offices and inspecting them and it would be money well spent to see how someong like me had to endure such bad conditions. They never go around and check that regulations are being adhered to. in my case the day i left with a constructive dismissal case pending was the best day of my life and like i was ending a very long jail sentance, i was free free free

To Anonymous: You say that it was like leaving a long jail sentence when you left work, no job should be a jail sentence; surely there were plenty of jobs out there that you could have moved to a lot sooner. It is because people stay on for long periods of time in job situations like yours that employers feel that they can get away with putting people in such horrendous conditions.

Going to H & S on your own should not cause problems. Nor should it result in further bad teeatment. Surely you went to your doctor about the ill health this was causing?

I work in a gym where the temperature is constantly 9 or 10 degrees as we're only allowed heating for 30 min in the morning and again only for 30 minutes in the evening. This is really a waste because it does nothing to heat the place. We have to strike a balance between customers complaining it's too warm (due to them exercising ) and us staff freezing to death because the temperature is so low. I'm so tempted to wear my thick fleecy boots but we have to wear trainers and this does nothing to keep the cold out so my feet are constantly numb and frozen. Yes I can do a workout of my own to warm up but one's body temperature soon returns to normal and the cold creeps in again for the rest of my work day. Since the winter began I've had a sore throat which won't go away and now bronchitis, and this after years of never getting sick! What else is there to do besides dressing like the Michelin Man (spelling?) to work? We're running out of ideas.

Does the 4.65 sq m. space per person in an office have legal backing? I am being asked to share an office 9 sq m. with another person and I think it is too small.

I've started a new job three months ago. I'm loving the work but my office has no windows or source of natural light. I find that by the early afternoon my eyes are sore and tired. I have read about 'natural daylight lamps' which are supposed to provide brighter and clearer light - does anyone know if they are useful and if they are available in Ireland?

15:46 - as far as I know, it is illegal to have an office with absolutely no natrual light. Do try gettig out into the daylight - especially cmin ginto winter at least twice a day for a minimum of 20 mins - say at lunchtime for a shotwalk and for a few minutes in the afternoon, for the sake of your own health.

I won a hefty court case against my employers and one of the aspects that went against them was my working conditions which had no windows, natural light or ventilation, breaking the Health and Safety Regulations, the Judge quoted the laws in her Judgment on my case.

My boss is moving premises - the new office is quite small and there is no natural light and windows are sealed shut. Are there any regulations I should point out to him?

Windows should NEVER be sealed shut and our workplace must have a source of natural light. Also tere are regulatiosn on the minimum amount of space required per person.

What regulations are there that I can quote in relation to an office that all the windows are sealed shut? Thanks.

I am not the person above who referred to regulations but I think you might get some information from the Labour Court and also I think there was a booklet brought out that set out regulation about the workplace, not sure where you can get it, but the Labour Court might help you and they can send you stuff in the post, also they might be able to tell you where to go for information. Good luck

I work in a call centre with a very bad air con system. The windows are permanently shut, even during summer. Is this allowed?

Can anyone advise on how to deal with glare from outside light? I work in a large open plan office with a wall of windows on one side. We keep the blinds closed permanently, as it is impossible to work with them open. We would all need to wear sunglasses otherwise. We had all been looking forward to moving to this nice bright office where we would be able to see the outside for a change, but now we may as well be working in an office with no windows at all. Keeping the blinds pemanently closed has defeated the purpose of moving to a bright modern office. All lights are permanently on of course, even on the brightest of days, which is not good for one's eyes or general health. We should be able to benefit from the sunshine outside instead of shutting it out. PC screens might help a little but would not be enough to allow us to keep the blinds open. I would be very grateful fo any advice on how to deal with this problem. Thanks.

An office of nearly 300 people and we have exactly the same problem Vera. Your employer isn't really breaking any laws.

Thanks.Yes I understand my employer isn't breaking the law. This wasn't the issue - perhaps I wasn't clear in my post. I was just wondering if anyone had successfully managed to solve the glare problem from both the outside brightness and the brightness from the lighting inside. Maybe tinted windows or another form of lighting?

We have a similar kind of office - huge plate glass window at the end. We have roman blinds - the ones that are slatted vertically, so we just tilt the slat according as the sun / light is shining and it cuts the glare. Then use the screens on our PCs to cut down the glare from the inside lights altho this is never much of the problem for us despite the fluorescents.

Thanks for that.yes we have those blinds but we have to keep them fully closed all day! we may as well be working in an office without windows! this is the problem. And its still too bright! perhaps it is a combination of brightness outside and the numerous banks of fluorescents that makes it so bad.personally i cannot continue to work in this environment much longer. i don't want to leave my job. i really wish there was a real solution...

in my workplace we are forced to work in very close proximity to each other, the intense heat and the people next to each other.....it is normal ? Thanks

Aira, it depends on what you mean by intense heat? There are laws governing how hot or cold an office can be and there are certain temperatures above and below which it is illegal to work abd

I work in an office building that is supposed to be a "smart" building. Its not. The Air conditioning is constantly either too hot or too cold. Usually blowing cold air down on my head. I'm on my 3rd antibiotic this year, I now have chronic sinusitis, resulting in more time off work - again. I dont want to be sick all the time! There is a high occurance of sickness and absenteeism on my floor. People are always complaining about the A/C. We have been assured that the system is checked every year and there "is no possible way that we can be getting sick because of the A/C." Where do I go from here, what are our rights??