Category: Furniture

Can It Ever Be Too Hot to Work in the UK?

June 10, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Can It Ever Be Too Hot to Work in the UK?

There is no legal minimum or maximum working temperature in the UK, but that doesn’t mean it is never too hot to work. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) say that working temperatures should provide ‘reasonable comfort’ to workers, and provide recommendations such as:

The temperature in a workplace should be at least 16 °C, or if the work involves rigorous effort, it should be at least 13 °C.

Other factors such as humidity, air flow and worker clothing and movement also play a part in determining if the temperature in a working environment is reasonably comfortable. As there is no recommended office temperature in UK law, it is up to each workplace to determine their own ideal temperature.

If you do find the heat is making you uncomfortable, this can impact on your working ability. You may find you cannot concentrate, your productivity will drop and you may suffer from heat stress.

What is Heat Stress?

When you are too hot, your body will try to cool off by sweating and radiating more energy. Unfortunately this can lead into heat stress if the temperature continues for an extended period of time without relief from water shortage or natural processes that help regulate temperatures in a human being’s environment.

Symptoms of heat stress can include having a red face, excessive sweating, a heat rash, muscle cramps, dehydration and fainting. If allowed to continue, heat stress can cause heat exhaustion, and this is a severe disorder that can lead to death in extreme cases.

Some working environments are more at risk of being too hot to work in than others. For example, those in well-ventilated offices are less likely than those working in a kitchen to feel the effects of a heatwave. However, we all have a responsibility to stay safe and healthy at work, no matter our working environment.

What Are Employer Responsibilities During Hot Weather?

All employers have a duty to protect the health and safety of employees. Whilst there is no legal requirement to provide air con in offices, employees will work better when they are comfortable. It is therefore in everyone’s interests to make the environment as reasonably comfortable as possible.

Employers should also take extra care to protect any vulnerable people in the office. Hot weather can make people feel tired and less energetic than usual, especially for young and elderly people, pregnant women, and people who may be on medication. Vulnerable people in your office may appreciate extra rest breaks or a desk fan to improve air circulation.

Creative ideas on how to turn your home office into a stylish haven

May 4, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Get a desk with built-in storage

When you have a small home office, storage tends to be an issue. Where on Earth will you store your stacks of sticky notes and cool pens? Before you know it, you’re elbow-deep in loose papers, wires. Invest in a desk that not only serves as a desk but can also be used to store all of those essentials that you don’t want lying around or in reach of your little ones!

Add a rug or cushions

This will give you a cosier feel to your work space, it can also make your workspace feel bigger.

Light it up

As well as ensuring you get as much natural light as possible we recommend turning off the harsh overhead lighting (that you don’t miss from your work office!) and instead using a mix of floor and table lamps or even candles to give off a smoother light that still does it’s job without making you squint!

Just add plants

Given that you’ll be spending a good chunk of your day at your desk, you may as well dress it up so that it’s visually stimulating and gives you a burst of energy when you start losing steam. One way to do this is with small plants. Use easy-to-care plants near your desk.

How to improve your home office

April 25, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Working from home may have its benefits like getting up a bit later, wearing comfy clothes and having an oven handy for making lunch.

But you may find working, eating and sleeping in the same place each day gets a bit tiresome after a while.

Here’s a few tips and tricks for making your work environment at home that little bit brighter…

Find a comfy chair

If you have a comfortable chair you can use as your work chair, this will make a big difference if you’re sitting at a desk or table all day.

Clean up your mess (computer, papers, laptops etc)

A clean and tidy working environment can make the world of difference.

Making sure your desk or table is free of clutter so that you have space to work, and that it’s clean and tidy can leave your feeling calmer and more productive.

Make sure you also tidy up at the end of your working day so that you come away from work and enjoying the evening for yourself and the family.

Natural lighting

If possible, choose a place for your workspace environment that has natural lighting. This can be beneficial to your mood and increase productivity. We also recommend you get outside a 20 minutes or so, to give you a break from work and also get much needed fresh air.

Being near a window while working can also up your vitamin D levels, which helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body, and these nutrients are needed to keep muscle, teeth and bones healthy.

Separate work and living areas

If it’s possible to do so, your workspace should be in a room or space as far away as possible from the place where you sleep if you want to increase your productivity.

Your brain tends to associate certain spaces with certain tasks, which is why it’s important to keep your work and living areas physically separate if you can.
For more ideas on office space at home or in a city office, contact us today!

How To Create A Breakout Space

February 8, 2019 / / 0 Comments

If your office doesn’t have a breakout space and you have thee space to create one, then you and your employees will be missing out on all the benefits they can bring. Here’s some guidance on how to create the ideal breakout space in your office.

A breakout space may have a name that suggests something new and exciting but really, it’s simply an area where employees and visitors can sit and relax in an informal space. The breakout area or break room to use the old-fashioned term is simply the modern evolution of an area that would have been a smoking room in factories and offices before it was banned.

Now the breakout room is a place for relaxation away from computer screens which the most people now work on in service industries. They can also be places to eat lunch, hold informal meetings and brainstorm.

Breakout rooms should be furnished with soft furnishings, comfy chairs and sofas and painted using colours that encourage relaxation. Ideally the area should be partitioned to separate it from the main office.

If you are looking for office refurbishment call us today to find out about the services we offer.

Brief Guide To Breakout Furniture

October 9, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Ever heard of breakout furniture? If you haven’t then you’re probably not up to speed with the latest innovations in office furniture.

There’s a buzz word for most things nowadays and that includes a specific type of furniture called breakout furniture. Now before we go into breakout furniture we need to understand what a breakout area is in an office.

The definition is actually as the name suggests, a place to break away from the desk and hold informal meetings or take time out for a break.

So you may actually have a breakout space without even knowing it but for some or even most offices, the breakout space is little more than a battered old sofa someone moved from their house and a cheap coffee table.

Breakout furniture doesn’t have to be this way, however, when there is the opportunity to make these spaces livelier and engaging.

A well thought out breakout space complete with office pods or even booths where people can use their phones can make for a much more happy and relaxed work environment.

If you are planning to fit or plan a new office layout, give us a call today to discuss the options available.

How Furniture Can Solve Staff Productivity and Wellness Issues

July 20, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Furniture may be taken for granted in many offices but there is a quiet revolution going on in furniture design that aims to improve staff productivity and their sense of wellbeing.

At first glance, you might wonder how office furniture can have such an profound influence on office environments. Ignoring the importance of good furniture however can create the kind of environment that breeds hostility and discontentment.

Business owners can avoid this by investing in the latest innovations in office furniture that not only facilitate interaction amongst workers but also improve health and productivity. ‘Healthy furniture’ such as treadmill and sit stand desks could well become commonplace in the offices of the future.

Charging stations are also likely to become an important part of the contemporary office as more people work on portable IT equipment and need the freedom to move around different areas of offices to aid collaboration.

There are also signs that the traditional open plan office layout of recent decades is likely to be replaced by more separation. Rather than a return to compartmentalised offices, however, the emphasis is likely to be on separation within open spaces and good acoustics.

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