New Version of BS EN 527-1: 2011

FIRA are pleased to announce the publication of a new version of BS EN 527-1: 2011, concerning the European standard specified dimensions for office desks and tables. It has dimensional requirements for four types of desks/tables; fully adjustable, height selectable, fixed height as well as a type where only very limited adjustability is provided. The new standard requires larger legroom and greater ranges of adjustability.

The new standard has been released to include revised dimensions to ensure a better fit for today’s office workers and requires larger legroom and greater ranges of adjustability.

The standard includes dimensional requirements for four types of desks/tables;
– Fully adjustable
– Height selectable
– Fixed height
– Limited adjustability

The new standard involves two key changes:

Changes in desk heights
• – Fixed height desks should be 740mm ± 20 mm (increase of 20mm)
• – Height adjustable or height selectable desks should adjust between 650mm and 850mm for sitting applications and between 650mm and 1250mm for sit/stand desks. The new heights are lower to suit short users and higher to suit tall users.

Changes in Legroom
• – Legroom height at the front of the desk and at 500mm from the front edge has increased. Desktops can not be thicker than 55mm at the front and 80mm at 500mm from the front edge.
• – Legroom depth on the floor and up to 120mm above the floor will now be 800mm (an increase of 200mm). This should allow tall people be able to stretch their legs slightly without having to push themselves away from their desks and tap their keyboards with their arms at a stretch.
• – Legroom width has also increased to 850mm for fixed height desks and to 1200mm for height adjustable desks.

The FIRA Ergonomics team have been heavily involved with this new standard and can offer immediate ergonomic testing to this new standard.

(The above info is from the FIRA press release)

For further information please click the below link:
www.fira.co.uk