Designing a healthy, happy and safe work place

‘Office ergonomics’, is the concept that the office environment should be designed in consideration of the human factors, ensuring workers are happy, safe, healthy and more productive as a result.

Occupational health and safety in the office environment

The health and safety of persons working within the office environment must be a key consideration in the safety management system of any companies’ workforce.

Statistics show us that there are few serious claims made each year in industries such as finance, law, telecommunications and other technical professional services. This has been shown to be due to the hazards being less overt than in manufacturing or construction where risks such as falling tools or moving parts can be easily identified. Risks generally faced often pronounce themselves in other ways such as strains (eye, carple tunnel), stress and absenteeism.

The following article will introduce the major areas to be considered when designing an office to ensure workers are happy, safe, healthy and more productive as a result. This area of study is known as ‘Office ergonomics,’ which is the concept that the office environment should be designed in consideration of the human factors. The purpose of incorporating ergonomics in design is to ensure that the work environment has minimal negative impact on the health and safety the users of the designed element, in this case, our friendly desk jockey.

Work environment design considerations

The provision of amenities within the office environment is an important factor in ensuring that workers have the necessities to lead comfortable, productive working lives. In Victoria, the compliance code ‘Workplace amenities and work environment’ together with the ‘Officewise’ handbook outlines the requirements for the work environment in Victoria.

Before we even look at setting up an office, it is a great idea to ‘Risk Assess’ the position or role of the worker to better understand what they do through their work week. A designer using a pen will require a much different workstation to one using strictly a computer, but what is the best workspace design for each? We will never know if we don’t ask! This risk assessment is an often forgotten part of workplace setup, however if used correctly can become a great roadmap for consultation with workers and reference for decision making through the entire design of the office.

The following discussion will follow the requirements as laid out in the compliance code, outlining the key factors which should be considered when developing the stated element.

Workstations

Workstations now come in many shapes and sizes, assessment of the job role will help guide the workstation design to suit the role of the worker as well as any individual factors which must be taken into consideration. The most important consideration is the ability to give space and freedom to move, it has been shown through various studies and research that constricted workstations where workers feel ‘hemmed in’ can significantly negatively contribute to stress levels of employees. Standing desks are growing in popularity as they allow the worker to stretch and change position, these are becoming commonplace in large corporations and government.

Temperature

For anyone who has worked within a shared office space, you will appreciate that the temperature debate is alive and well. The advised general temperature range by Victorian Worksafe is 20oC to 26oC, depending on the time of year and clothing worn. Generally, a medium fan setting moving through the room at 22oC year round is considered the norm.

The only consideration worth noting here is that if everyone has a ‘foot heater’ that happens to appear every winter that lives next to waste paper bins. These need to be tested and tagged or done away with altogether, your power bill will thank you and your fire risk will significantly drop.

Air quality / ventilation

Air quality considers temperature, humidity and general freshness of air. Use an air conditioner and fans to move the air and encourage as much natural ventilation as possible year round. In enclosed workspaces, where there is no natural ventilation, ensure an air conditioner is supplied to assist climate management. Many small offices are encouraged to also consider the use of an air purifier to remove allergens, smells, bacteria, viruses and other nasties brought into the closed atmosphere.

Lighting

Lighting is very important to workers accuracy, productivity and mental health. The presence of poor lighting has been shown to greatly negatively contribute to the above areas due to greater mental and eye strain. Headaches are a highly common symptom of eye strain due to insufficient lighting.

Lighting levels are guided by various standards such as the Building Code of Australia and Australian Standard 1680.1 Interior and workplace lighting – General principles and recommendations. Natural lighting is best so if you have the ability to install large windows which allow natural lighting and ventilation then that’s your best bet!

Seating

Sitting in a sedentary position all day requires that the seat is adjustable and suited to the workers role. Ergonomic seating such as kneeling chairs  and balance ball chairs engage the abdominal muscles and are great alternatives to keep desk workers physically (and mentally) active through the day.

Flooring

It goes without saying that flooring needs to be considered in light of the tasks undertaken and to eliminate trip hazards as far as practicable. Inspections of the workplace to identify any hazards emerging (I.e. frayed carpet, lifted carpet, protruding floorboards) are recommended to identify and remove hazards regularly and carpet protectors to prevent fraying carpets under seating are a must.

Noise

Noise factors within the workplace have a strong effect on the ability for workers to concentrate and effectively undertake their roles. Radios have long been a staple within the workplace and can add atmosphere, however reverberation (echoes), constant and/or infrequent high pitched noise can lead to workplace stress through the inability for workers to concentrate.

A number of methods can be employed to reduce noise in the workplace which all work on the principle of absorbing or breaking up the sound. Hard surfaces such as floorboards, cement, glass and tin will ‘bounce’ or reverberate the sound, leading to a higher noise nuisances. Workplaces generally have the basics to reduce noise nuisance including carpet, shelving, chairs etc. however if these are proving ineffective, consider the purchase of acoustic absorption panels to fit to your walls or ceiling to absorb the sound.

Emergency response

Due to the high numbers of people working within office environments, emergency management and response should be considered a key area in the health and safety plans of a business. The failure of these systems has led to catastrophic loss of life consequences in the past.

Emergency management should be based around the principles outlined in AS3745:2010 – Emergency Management in Facilities or the Worksafe Victoria guideline for small businesses “Emergency Management a plan for small businesses”.

As a minimum, an emergency management diagram should be developed, evacuation procedure tested and reviewed annually as well as first aiders trained sufficient to the size and complexity of the workplace. Of course, these are only the most basic requirements, please read our article Emergency Planning – What you need to know, read the standard or give us a call for greater insight.

Tackling obesity in static workplaces

Australia’s obesity levels are reaching pandemic levels, there are a number of reasons for this trend, one of the highest being the fact that our rates of intermittent exercise (exercise which is unplanned) in many occupations (especially those in the office) have significantly dropped to technological and efficiency improvements.

Some solutions to improving the health and fitness of your workers (and reducing your absenteeism rates) include:

• Encouraging workers to get up and stretch;
• Provision of shower areas (even if not required by the compliance code), to encourage workers to run, walk or cycle to work;
• Rotating job functions to more physical work (where possible);
• Posting friendly reminders to stretch through the workplace; and
• Providing access to subsidised gym or health club memberships.

Some other considerations

Some final areas which should be considered when setting or looking to improve your office environment include:

• Offering a welfare/counselling service, allowing workers to let off steam in a confidential, private, supportive manner;
• Supplier agreements where vending machines feature healthy, fresh foods such as fruit, instead of the common ‘sometimes’ foods generally stocked;
• Provision of drink bottles, to encourage workers to keep hydrated at their desks; and
• Provision of staff areas, to encourage social connections and friendships, away from sending the occasional Chuck Norris gag via email.

As a final note, remember that all office equipment is required to be tested and tagged as per the Australian Standard 3760:2010 – Electrical Testing and Tagging.

Sometimes it’s handy to get a second opinion on your assessment or workplace, call SafetyZone OHS Consulting for a free quote to take the stress out of your OH&S!