Is your office making your employees sick? We’re not just talking about social distancing anymore! Many things that we take for granted as part of working in an office building are negatively contributing to our health. When employees experience back pain, eye strain, and fatigue, they aren’t able to do their job to the best of their abilities. Here’s the three main culprits that most offices need to address this year.
The Right Lighting
Over 50% of office workers complain about eye strain that requires them to take at least one break a day to rest their eyes. Eye strain can be caused by many factors but one common thread is lighting! When lighting is too bright it can cause glare on screens and force employees to squint. When the lighting is too dim, it forces us to stare and strain our eyes.
It’s not just extra breaks that should cause concern. Poor lighting can contribute to headaches, migraine, loss of focus, and fatigue. All of these complaints can cause your productivity to go down, while employee dissatisfaction goes up.
Getting the lighting just right can be tricky depending on the space – we covered many different options in our previous blog post about lighting solutions.
It is also important to factor in natural lighting – while we can’t easily change how many windows are in our buildings we can change how we arrange them to allow every employee access to natural light throughout the day. When windows are scarce try to arrange it so that employee break rooms or meeting rooms have a window. This helps to boost mood, and creativity at the office.
When natural light is particularly hard to come by, offer your employees desk lamps. Not only does this allow the employees to control their own lighting in their space, but it helps to create a comfortable, more personal environment. We particularly like the Lana lamp for task lighting. It is fully dimmable, has a touch sensing switch, and can be positioned in many ways with the magnetic feature.
Breathe Easy At The Office
Offering employees the opportunity to work outside during the day provides many benefits both to you and the employee! Your employee benefits from getting a breath of fresh air and you benefit from their increased creativity, boosted mood, and heightened collaboration. There are SO many reasons to help your employees work outdoors when weather permits. Indoors or out, air quality is an important factor for office workers.
COVID-19 may be a part of our day to day lives now, but that doesn’t mean that your employees can’t breathe easy at the office. When businesses have inadequate HVAC systems the office may not be getting enough fresh air, which impacts the air quality of the office. This can contribute not just to airborne illnesses, but allergies and fatigue too! We work with The Carruthers Group to provide personal air filters for our clients. Clean Zonez air purifiers filter the air around your desk to ensure the highest possible air quality where you spend most of your time at the office.
Do You Have Your Employee’s Back?
Back pain is one of the most common workplace injuries that can be greatly reduced through the right ergonomic support. There are many small adjustments you can make to create a more ergonomic workplace but one of the best ways to support your employees is by offering standing desks, and a great ergonomic chair.
Standing desks like the Planes Height Adjustable Table is a classic desk that can easily raise or lower to a standing position for your employee. More out of the box solutions like the Ergotron JŪV Wall, pictured above gives your employees more options for workspaces. The JŪV Wall unit can fold down flat, taking up no floor space, then can be used as a standing desk whenever it is needed.
Providing a proper ergonomic chair is also a great way to reduce back pain at the office. The Zody LX is a perfect choice for any employee. Not only does it have top tier back support, but it features dual posture settings to allow for sitting and “perching” at a standing desk.
To learn more about the latest products for healthier environments please get in touch with Marie Richoux and set up a meeting. Send an email to marier@kvworkspace.com to schedule.
