Gym balls in place of office chairs

[scarlioli]

Hi,
Can anyone help with the use of gym balls as office chair as have a staff member who has brought one into use, I have explained that they do not comply to DSE regulations, so cannot be used unless a letter from a doctor is required but then would still need a full risk assessment, any ideas guys

[Alexis]

Hi scarlioli.

A very warm welcome to HSfB.

Very interesting first query and query it is in my view.

As you pointed out, this is against DSE Regulations and even with a doctors certificate, which I would think to be highly unusual to have one, the balls you speak of are only used for medical reasons by qualified Physiotherapists and only for short spells of time, not a full days' work 5 days a week.

To RA one of these, you would need a qualified Physiotherapist as the competent person to advise surely.

If you did allow this, wouldn't it be a hazard in itself just by being there and we all know, given we are all curious, many members of staff would be "having-a-go" when it was not being used, which poses the question, that.............if someone was hurt, even the user if they lost their balance, your company would be liable.

Maybe contact your insurance company, who would most certainly say you were not covered and knock the notion on the head, before someone else gets knocked on the head.

[bernicarey]

Good article on them here: http://www.posturepeople.co.uk/sitting- ... ork-facts/

Most people do not have the core strength to sit on the ball properly, which automatically makes the user tuck their feet under the ball to stop instability, and therefore defeating the purpose of swapping out your office chair. With average office hours exceeding 8 hours, it is impossible to keep your core muscles engaged for that period throughout the entire day.

There's been a lot of hype about them for the past 10 years or so, much of which is from vested interests, such as manufacturers.

[H&S Hermit]

I have allowed them in limited cases of late stage pregnancy discomfort where midwives have made recommendation, however, they have been assessed as part of the NEM RA, and clear limitations as to procurement standard, use, users, storage and posture. They’ve never been used in large open offices or for greater than 2-3 weeks.

Beyond this, they’re a no go for all good reasons given. I’ve never known them recommended by medical professional.

Could you consider negotiating to full DSE assessment which considers a different style of chair or desk set-up with some root cause / requirement analysis as a compromise maybe?
If they just want rock hard abs, suggest lunchtime sit-ups in the local park!

Hermit

[benstacey]

My question is why would somebody want to do this, if they are saying the chairs are uncomfortable or they have back issues there are better solutions to this.

I have sciatica and use one of these on my computer chair at home, its feels like i'm sitting on a cloud.

https://www.amazon.com/ComfiLife-Premiu ... Src=detail