Top 5 Tips for comfort in Office workstations

Most people are under significant pressure at work to perform according their targets, meet tight deadlines and give their clients and customers the results that they need. All of these responsibilities place enough mental and physical strain on employees that they shouldn’t also have to deal with an uncomfortable office workstation for the average seven to ten hours a day that they spend at their desks. Fair enough, right?

There are many ways in which office workstations can be made more user-friendly, ranging from the design, to the furniture choice and adjustable accessories. Here are our top five tips for making your office workstation a comfortable and productive place:

1. Make sure that your office workstation provides enough desk-top space to position the computer monitor directly in front of you. If your office workstation is cramped and you are forced to turn to one side to view your computer screen, you are likely to experience extensive muscle stress and possible headaches or permanent muscular damage when you are at your desk for extended periods.

2. Your office workstation should provide enough space and mobility to ensure that you do not have to lean in too far or strain to see your computer screen. As a general rule, the monitor should be placed around 16" from your chair to prevent unnecessary eye strain.

3. The desk-top and below desk area of your office workstation must allow enough room for the hard drive unit of your computer to be placed within your easy reach. This will allow you to insert CDs, USB sticks and memory cards without experiencing unnecessary strain.

4. In a properly designed office workstation, your desk should be at a height that allows your legs adequate room to fit comfortably below it. Your feet should be flat to encourage you to maintain a straight spine and enable a relaxed flow of blood to your legs and feet.

5. To prevent repetitive stress injury, your office workstation should incorporate a chair that is adjustable for your height to ensure that your computer keyboard is positioned at an appropriate level. This level will vary between individuals, but should be a height at which you are able to type while maintaining relaxation in your upper arms with your elbows at right angles and your wrists as straight as possible.

These top tips are a great way to start making your office workstation in Melbourne a comfortable and efficient space. However, at the end of the day, nothing will beat an office workstation that has been ergonomically designed with precisely you in mind. If you are a manager or in charge of work safety, you may consider consulting an office workstations ergonomic expert who can work with each employee individually to build their office workstation according to their specific needs.

How to cut energy costs with suspended ceilings

When you were setting up the office of your company, you probably spent a great deal of time choosing the most comfortable, stylish and appropriate office workstations for your employees and paid a lot of attention to the kind of decor that would reflect the values of your business and be impressive and welcoming to customers. Of course these are necessary priorities in the set-up of any business, but establishing a new office can also be expensive and contain a lot of hidden costs. The answer to cutting down on continuing costs in the running of your office could rest in a part of the office space that you never even considered during its refurbishment: the ceiling.

While the appearance and functionality of your office is of utmost importance to the reputation and productivity of your business, by simply choosing to install suspended ceilings it is possible to achieve an ongoing and effortless conservation of excess costs that may otherwise result from overuse of heating and lighting systems.

So, can a suspended ceiling actually save you money? At first it may sound like an unnecessary renovation that is likely to cost you more than it will save, but, in the long-term, you will find that that’s not the case.

Firstly, suspended ceilings are actually more quickly and easily installed at a much lower cost than plaster or ‘tongue and groove’ style ceilings. They can also can be more easily modified, rearranged and repaired for ease of access to internal pipes and wiring.

Secondly, suspended ceilings are just that – a series of panels that are installed to hang in a grid below the existing ceiling structure, meaning that, once a suspended ceiling is in place, the ceiling level of your office becomes significantly lower. Since hot air rises, a lower ceiling provides a natural method of thermal insulation by retaining heat within your immediate environment. In addition, a layer of air is trapped between the main ceiling and the suspended ceiling which acts as an effective secondary insulator. It’s not rocket science to see that this natural conservation of warm air will reduce heating expenses significantly.

Another cost-saving advantage of suspended ceilings Melbourne is their capacity to provide optimised light reflection through the use of bright white panels which allow for the transmission of natural light deep into the workspace. Not only will an increased amount of natural light lessen the need for installing extensive and expensive lighting facilities, it will in turn cut down your electricity costs and create a more comfortable working environment for your employees.