Schools return for a new year

Another school year has flown around, and the six-week holidays are already over and done with! Last year and the majority of this has been somewhat strange for schools across the country. We are hoping that this September welcomes a new year which won’t have setbacks for pupils and teachers alike.

We have worked with schools for a number of years, and it is great to see that everyone is excited to return to school. Supporting teachers, admin and faculty staff, we have carried out DSE assessments to make sure all staff can work comfortably.

With lots of remote teaching over the past eighteen months, we have seen an increase in the number of school staff who are struggling with comfort whilst working. Now back at school, incorrect or inadequately set up equipment has only contributed to poor posture, a bad back and aches and pains which over time, lead to absences.

How we help

Our DSE assessments help with comfort for anyone who uses display screen equipment for more than an hour or so at a time. The Health and Safety Executive refers to these as DSE users. DSE equipment includes a:

• Desktop
• Laptop
• Mobile
• Tablet

We work with schools, businesses, and self-employed workers up and down the country to provide DSE assessments and advice as well as appropriate ergonomic equipment so that they can all work comfortably.

Supporting school staff, we can carry out our assessments on teachers in the classroom and admin staff who work at their computer all day.

For each assessment that we carry out, our ergonomic DSE assessor will ask a series of questions about the individual’s workstation and if they have any concerns. From here our assessor will make adjustments if needed such as to the chair or screen height and give advice on best practice for posture and comfortable working.

After every assessment, we send a full written report which outlines everything that was recorded during the assessment. This is where we will also recommend any product if we feel it is needed. If you have adequate equipment, we won’t put forward any suggestions however, if the users would benefit from a new chair, desk or mouse for example, we will put this forward in the report. There is no obligation to purchase this equipment however, it will benefit the user and ensure they can work comfortably.

Our work with schools

We understand that budgets are often tight within schools. That is why we ensure our DSE assessments are cost effective. Working with schools, we have seen that often, staff are shown a brochure and asked to pick a chair which they would like.

Usually, they opt for a chair that is the same colour as the ones already in the school or they will go for a mid-range chair that looks comfortable on the picture. Before long however, it becomes clear that the chair is uncomfortable and it hasn’t helped with the users bad back.

Having a DSE assessment to start with, eliminates the waste of time and money that goes into ordering the wrong chair. It could be that we can make you comfortable on your existing equipment however, if you do require a new chair, we are able to put forward a recommendation that we know will work therefore saving you money in the long run.

Company wide DSE assessments

As well as carrying out single DSE assessments, we also offer what we call company wide assessments or ‘sweeps’. These are ideal if you have several staff that you want assessing in the same day. We can carry out up to thirty assessments in one day making it a much more cost effective DSE solution. Our sweeps mean we could assess more teachers and admin staff in one day, saving you money.

If you’d like more information about how we can help improve your comfort and get your colleagues working comfortably, get in touch!