Regardless of the scale of commercial activity, an office is the control center, brain, and heart of any company. Various factors influence the efficiency of work, but one of them is the safety of office workers and their activities. Confidence in their security allows staff to work productively, and the leader – not to worry about the safety of their values, both material and informational. In this article, we tell how to make your office as safe and comfortable as possible.
Two Key Criteria for a Safe Office
Safety is a very comprehensive concept, but it is possible to emphasize two main indicators according to which the office can be considered a safe place to work.
- Comfortable and healthy conditions for employees inside office premises, minimizing risks;
- Reducing the negative impact on the environment through the rational use of material and energy resources.
Based on these two indicators, we suggest that you consider ways to make your office safer, more comfortable and environmentally friendly.
Prevent Germs and Infections from Circulating the Office
Office staff due to work in a stuffy room and a sedentary lifestyle can get sick up to 6 times a year. At the same time, about 70{c9b670b3c77d807bdd7060c9fc0a99121cc6b184676c9335f3481a95c383dd4c} of sick workers continue to go to work. Almost half of them do nothing to warn others about their illness.
Often offices are organized in the form of “open space” when a large number of employees work in the same room. This approach has its advantages (the convenience of organizing work and exchanging information, saving space), but also many drawbacks: increased noise level, difficulties in providing comfortable conditions for all employees, as well as an increased risk of infection during seasonal colds.
To minimize these risks in “open space” it is recommended to install devices for disinfection of the room from germs and viruses. It is also a good idea to implement the practice of wet cleaning in the workplace after the end of the working day. If finances allow, then it is possible to hire a cleaner on an ongoing basis.
Or, you can come up with a reward system for employees if they do it themselves. Motivate them to wipe the table and keyboard with a damp cloth – daily at the end of the working day. Regularly ventilate the room, arranging a strong, but the short-lived draft in the office – with it, the bacteria disappear as quickly as possible. Do this with colleagues after each visitor leaves or, if the source of the virus is in the office, at least five times per business day.
Add indoor plants
The biophilia hypothesis states: visual contact with elements of wildlife affects the increase in productivity and labor efficiency. Employees sitting surrounded by white dull walls will work worse than those who have the opportunity to see growing fresh flowers in the office or beautiful views of nature from the windows.
This will help them suppress the stress associated with working moments and continue to work in high spirits. Some companies even have cats in their offices, because as you know, talking with furry pets improves your moral well-being.
Cats are of course an optional idea, but fresh and clean air is necessary for the active work of the brain and keeping the body in good shape. Plants absorb chemical elements and microorganisms that are harmful to humans while producing oxygen. Studies by scientists from Cardiff University have shown that having plants in the office increases productivity by 15{c9b670b3c77d807bdd7060c9fc0a99121cc6b184676c9335f3481a95c383dd4c} and also reduces stress and tension. This means that your employees will be able to at least partially protect themselves from burnout syndrome, and this is an even more common office disease than acute respiratory infections.
Think of this simple, ecological, and inexpensive idea to make your office more secure and your employees more productive.
Pay Attention to Natural Lighting
It is worthwhile to carefully work with the natural insolation of the room and arrange the workplaces so that the employees receive a lot of sunlight. You may ask, what is the relationship with security? The relationship is completely direct.
Lack of lighting impairs vision, leads to a deficiency of vitamin D and a decrease in immunity. Incorrectly designed light will not only damage eyesight but also increase fatigue. It is all about the safety of your employees in terms of their health and work efficiency for the benefit of your business.
It is possible to control the level of insolation thanks to a special film that protects against ultraviolet radiation and allows indoor air not to heat up. If at some time of the day the sunlight is too active, you can use translucent blinds made from natural materials.
Lighting standards for offices are regulated by building codes. They indicate the necessary minimum illumination for the office. For some offices, this minimum of lighting is recommended to be increased – and sometimes at times (especially when there are few sources of daylight in the office). It is believed that the most favorable lighting environment for the office is soft daylight.
Protect Your Office from Fire
Many managers believe that fire safety measures in the office are needed only to comply with the law and to avoid problems during inspections of regulatory authorities. In this case, it is enough to install an inexpensive alarm system, which formally meets the legal requirements. It will cost 30–40{c9b670b3c77d807bdd7060c9fc0a99121cc6b184676c9335f3481a95c383dd4c} cheaper than a more technically sophisticated and informative alarm.
However, if you care about your office, employees and their safety within it, then, when choosing a security system, evaluate first of all its functionality. The system and fire safety measures in the office include burglar alarms, fire alarms, warning and evacuation systems for people in case of fire, video surveillance system, access control, and management system. From this set, the regulations oblige to install an automatic fire alarm, as well as a warning and evacuation control system for people in case of a fire in the office. However, we recommend that you not be greedy and choose the most innovative and smart systems. When it comes to the lives of people that a fire can take in a few seconds, money no longer matters.
Reduce the Environmental Impact
Everything that harms the environment harms people in the first place. And this, by the way, is also true concerning the reputation of your company and brand. Modern buyers want to know what environmental missions are implemented in the company whose goods or services they use. Therefore:
- Do not use household chemicals in the office that contain chlorine and organochlorine compounds, as well as phosphates and phosphonates. Choose environmentally-friendly household chemicals that can be decomposed into safe components in the environment by at least 90{c9b670b3c77d807bdd7060c9fc0a99121cc6b184676c9335f3481a95c383dd4c} in a short time.
- Do not buy stationery, home furnishings, and equipment made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) if there are alternative products on the market.
- When replacing windows, choose modern wooden or metal double-glazed windows, instead of plastic windows made of PVC.
- Discard disposable tableware in the office. If this is not possible for hygienic reasons, arrange the collection of all disposable tableware and hand it in for processing.
- Organize the collection and recycling of used cartridges, batteries and office equipment, as well as the collection and safe storage of batteries. The same goes for prudent paper consumption. For example, if you received several options for translating documents from a specialized translation service like The Word Point, print only those copies that you need. Everything else can be emailed.
Conclusion
As you can see, it is not so difficult to make the office safer. It is enough to ensure a healthy and ecological atmosphere in the office, as well as protect yourself from emergencies.
Author Bio
Frank Hamilton has been working as a translator at translation service Frank Hamilton is a blogger and translator from Manchester. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.
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