Regulation
10 - Room dimensions and space
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Every
room where persons work shall have sufficient floor area, height and
unoccupied space for purposes of health, safety and welfare.
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It
shall be sufficient compliance with this regulation in a workspace
which is not a new workspace, a modification, an extension or a conversion
and which, immediately before this regulation came into force in respect
of it, was subject to the provisions of the Factories Act 1961, if
the workplace does not contravene the provisions of Part 1 od Schedule
1.
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| 76 |
Workrooms
should have enough free space to allow people to get to and from workstations
and to move within the room with ease. The number of people in any
particular room at any one time will depend not only on the size of
the room, but on the space taken up by furniture, fittings, equipment
and layout of the room. Workrooms, except those where people only
work for short periods, should be of sufficient height (from floor
to ceiling) over most of the room to enable safe access to workstations.
In older buildings with obstructions such as low beams the obstruction
should be clearly marked. |
| 77 |
The
total volume of the room, when empty, divided by the number of people
normally working in it should be at least 11 cubic metres. In making
this calculation a room or part of a room which is more than 3.0 metres
high should be considered as 3.0 metres high. The figure of 11 cubic
metres per person is a minimum and may be insufficient if, for example,
much of the room is taken up by furniture etc. |
| 78 |
The figure
of 11 cubic metres referred to in paragraph 77 does not apply to:
(a) retail sales kiosks, attendants' shelters, machine control cabs
or similar small structures, where space is necessarily limited;
or
(b) rooms being used for lectures, meetings and similar purposes. |
| 79 |
In a typical
room, where the ceiling is 2.4 metres high, a floor area of 4.6 metres
square (for example 2.0 x 2.3 metres) will be needed to provide a
space of 11 cubic metres. Where the ceiling is 3.0 metres high or
higher the minimum floor area will be 3.7 metres square (for example
2.0 x 1.85 metres).
(These floor areas are only for illustrative purposes and are approximate.) |
| 80 |
The floor space
per person indicated in paragraph 77 and 79 will not always give sufficient
unoccupied space, as required by the Regulation. Rooms may need to
be larger, or have fewer people working in them, than indicated in
those paragraphs, depending on such factors as the contents and layout
of the room and nature of the work. Where space is limited careful
planning of the workplace is particularly important. |
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