Health and safty at work- need advice

Now i have been wondering this for a while

i work at b&q in norwich on the checkouts, now i work 8 hours on a sataday,6 on sunday, 3 on monday

all this time is on the checkouts, we have NO seats what so ever, nor the option to sit because of this, meaning i am effecivly confined to a small box to stand in, now after a few hours my legs kill me and my feet, as sometimes on a sataday i will be standing for 4 hours befor a break,
it wouldnt be a problem if i was walking about but im not im stuck,

ive serched through some health and safty sites but i cant find much, is there anything requaring an employees choice eather to sit or stand etc,

any help is gladly received

[DarrenSV650S]

Go to the gardening section and get a patio chair

Ask to see B+Q's risk assessment and method statement on checkout working....
Also could check out Manual handling regs, and have you asked for a chair?

Working all day on your feet isn't against any reg I believe, I mean, you could be digging ditches, what would you do then?

I worked many 12 hour shifts on my feet without moving far, your body gets used to it after a couple of weeks and it became comfortable, while I had that job I stood everywhere! At home, on the bus, seemed un-natural to sit down.

Don't know the regs myself but I would have thought your feet aching a bit is a lot better than a nasty back strain because you've been confined to a seat all day. With the weight of some of the stuff that passes through the average b&q till the pressure on your lower back will be horrendous. At least standing you can shift your feet into the most suitable lifting position.

If it really bothers you then do as has been suggested and bring in one of the patio chairs - of course ask your manager first, but its not really a big issue so I'm sure they wouldn't have any problems.

as above, why not get a chair like the asda peeps

lots of jobs are standing, when i was a butcher i was on my feet 10 hours a day, legs realy used to ache (being 20 stone did not help either)

AS mentioned above, I suspect that they have risk assessed it, and people being sat is probably worse.

This is as a result of the worst thing you can EASILY (ie short of coming off and hitting a signpost) do to a back is twisting whilst holding something heavy & away from you, and this is exactly what I'd imagine would happen at B&Q tills.

Depending on how comfortable you are with you bosses, could you ask if you could split your time between shop floor & the tills?

As a large employer they will have a health and safety structure, initially consult with your health and safety representative, he/she should be able to point you in the right direction for advice. If you get no joy raise it with your supervisor that you are suffering discomfort from standing all day. They should be able to deal with your enquiry, follow the correct procedure and it should be resolved fairly quickly.

You should be able to get advice from the Health and Safety Executive website www.hse.gov.uk

The checkout people in my local B&Q all have seats. So it's obviously not a company policy not to have seats.

[timwilky]

come on, people have spent the last 100 years working in factories where they were stood 8 hours a day at a lathe or similar piece of kit. I would not expect there to be any rule that says you have a right to sit down at a job with exception for defined rest periods etc.