Wiring Accessories
Responding to the way we work now: BS 6396 update
Neil Smith, technical manager at CMD Ltd and member of the BSI committee, discusses the proposed update to the standard.
C
hange is constant, particularly in the electrical sector where emerging technologies and innovation result in new products - and even new categories - on a year to year basis. But the change we have experienced recently has not just affected the products being specified, but also what the end-user needs and expects from them.
Over the past two years, employers and employees have achieved something that neither believed would ever happen: they have made working from home a reality, not just for senior execs but for anyone with an office-based role. The transition was rapid and unplanned, which meant that there was a make-do-and-mend approach to home-office set-up, in terms of both resilience and safety. That was fine in response to the COVID-19 crisis, but, as we move into a new phase of more permanent work routines, how can we ensure that the influence of our new appetite for working from home is reflected
26 | electrical wholesaler May 2022
in the standards and compliance requirements designed to make our work environments safe? The answer is a revision of BS 6396. While many office workers may become permanently home-based following the pandemic, others are likely to mix and match working from home with the office, while some will hot desk in office environments. An updated BS 6396 needs to consider all of these groups and make provision for consistent safety and resilience across all work environments. Homeworking is no longer the choice – and the risk – of the individual; it is mandated by many employers so the home workstation has become an extension of the work environment and the due diligence required for the office should now also be extended to the home.
BS 6396 has been under review during the pandemic and the public consultation on the proposed revised standard closed on the 21st December 2021. The revised BS 6396 is expected to be published in early in 2022 and the electrical
Neil Smith
supply chain will be able to scrutinise the detail of the new requirements when they are confirmed. It is already clear, however, that the revised standard will apply to all furniture with integral electric sockets, as opposed to only items of furniture specifically located in office or education environments. We can expect
ewnews.co.uk
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