1. Plan Carefully what office furniture is the perfect fit for your companies requirements.
Today there are many furniture options available to business owners that are both sustainable and affordable. The key to achieving both is like many business decisions – careful planning.
Most companies primary goal when purchasing furniture is to maximize the investment the have already made in office space and personnel. The next step is to establish your priorities. Do you want an environment that:
- Projects your corporate image
- Is adaptable to current and future technology
- Maximizes the performance and well-being of your personnel
All of the above? Some of the above? Or do you have additional priorities? Be sure to communicate these objectives early in the conversations with your furniture consultant.
2. Think long term.
The most sustainable furniture, from a resource perspective, is that which can be “re-purposed” as your company changes.
- The modular concept of workstations has now expanded to include desks, storage, reception and conference areas. At this year’s NeoCon in Canada and Chicago, USA, most major manufacturers showcased casegood lines that allowed for pieces to be reconfigured as needs changed.
- Choose colors and designs that are timeless. Then, instead of replacing entire areas, you can update with splashes of accent color.
- During the planning stage, think of your walls as another piece of movable furniture. As the needs of the workplace have changed, many companies are now tearing down drywall and rebuilding to create more collaborative areas. Or worse yet, companies are not creating the spaces they need because of the cost to tear down and re-build. Moveable walls, now available at many price points, increase the flexibility and efficiency of your company and save money over the lifecycle of your space.
3. Ask for products that are GreenGuard Certfied or can demonstrate other third party certifications, which verify that their chemical and particle emissions meet acceptable indoor air quality pollutant guidelines and standards. No more “new furniture” smell!
- GreenGuard Certification has been available since 2002 and most major manufacturers of systems furniture and task chairs have been awarded this certification for many of their lines. Many casegoods manufactures have changed, or are in the process of changing, their processes and finishes to be compliant.
- You can still choose custom fabrics – just be sure to ask your furniture consultant to check their certification.
4. Check Recycled Content.
This information is available from most major manufacturers. If this is important to you, have your furniture consultant request the information on your behalf.
5. Don’t buy what you don’t need. This may seem obvious, but many times there are options that will never be used – think of gizmos on task chairs. Sometimes more is not better, especially if it leads to waste.
So, like any other major business decision, plan ahead and you CAN have a work place that is attractive, sustainable and affordable.
For more information about chosing the right office furniture, contact Gilbert Griño, BAFCO
+971 4 3350045 or at www.bafco.com
Technology has had a profound effect on the way we live and work. As a result, we are spending more time sitting and using computers, which has greatly increased the occurrence of related musculoskeletal disorders. This article reviews a number of techniques for avoiding work-related, repetitive stress injuries and enhancing both the comfort and productivity levels of the workers who adopt them.
Only 10 years ago, if you wanted to send or retrieve a fax, you got up from your desk and walked to the fax machine. Today, with online faxing, a couple of keystrokes is all it takes. Years ago, if you wanted to ask your co-worker a question, you’d probably get up and walk to their desk or office.
Today, however, there are several less taxing ways to communicate. E-mail and on-line messaging, in addition to mobile devices such as iPhone and Blackberry, have taken the place of the leisurely stroll down the hall brandishing coffee and (only two decades ago) a cigarette.
The result of all these changes is that we’re spending more time at our desks, and more time on our computers – a lot more time. While 90 per cent of all office workers now use computers, 40 per cent work on their computers at least four hours a day.
But Dr Alan Hedge, Professor of the Human Factors Laboratory at Cornell University, warns that the risk of musculoskeletal discomfort increases by using the computer as little as one hour a day. Even worse, the risk of musculoskeletal injury is nine times greater when you spend four hours a day at the computer than it is for a one hour-per-day user. These statistics shed some light on the growing number of work-related office injuries, and the increasing importance of ergonomics in the workplace.
ERGONOMICS DEFINED
So what exactly is ergonomics? In a broad sense, office ergonomics applies science to workplace design to maximize productivity while reducing operator fatigue and discomfort. While the concept is fairly straightforward, its application is often open to debate. This is why it’s important to articulate the real issues facing workers in today’s office, and to debunk the misconceptions that typically surround discussions of ergonomics.
EMPLOYERS PAYING THE PRICE
While workers suffer from task-related injuries, employers are footing the staggering costs. According to the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) now account for one-third of all occupational illnesses and injuries. They constitute the largest job-related illness and injury problem in the workplace today.
SOME ERGONOMIC MISCONCEPTIONS
Most of us learn early that if something is good for us, it may not be pleasant. Unfortunately, the same logic has trickled into our ideas about healthy workplace posture and behaviour.
Despite what your mother said, sitting up straight is not good for you. And despite what the old ergonomic theories proposed, sitting with your body at 90-degree angles is not the healthiest way to spend a workday. In terms of workplace ergonomics, the startling truth is that comfort and health are synonymous. If you’re not comfortable at your desk, it’s because you’re probably sitting and working wrong.
More adjustability doesn’t necessarily mean more ergonomic. While the ability to adjust is a critical component of most ergonomic products, workers may unwittingly adjust themselves into bad postures and positions. Products should be adjustable within a safe operating range to keep untrained users from putting themselves at risk.
Since most people know precious little about ergonomics, when workers set up their own workstations, the position of the keyboard, mouse, monitor and copy holder is typically determined by available desk space, in which case the likelihood of an ergonomic workspace is next to nil.
Not all products labelled ‘ergonomic” are actually good for you. There are currently no laws or governing bodies overseeing the use of the “ergonomic” label. This means anyone can call any product ‘ergonomic’ – from toasters to baby pins to steam-proof mirrors. As a result, the term has been overused and watered down. Bottom line, ergonomics in the workplace is serious business, and product claims and functions must be backed up by serious research and testing.
THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT ERGONOMICS
So much for the bad news. The good news is that most work-related, repetitive stress injuries are avoidable. By attending to a few basic principles, employers can enhance their employees’ comfort and productivity and reduce their risk of MSDs and other costly injuries. Remember the words of the American Industrial Hygiene Association: ‘Ergonomic principles are most effectively applied on a preventive basis. Good design with ergonomics provides the greatest economic benefit for industry.’
Remember also: Environment affects behaviour. Proper placement of the workspace components (i.e., an ergonomically-designed workspace) will naturally encourage users to assume safe, low-risk postures. The top of the Empire State Building is not fenced in to keep sightseers from leaping to their doom, but to avoid the likelihood that accidents will happen. So too, the office work environment must be designed to minimize the risk for workers. In factories, industrial engineers spend hours analyzing the tasks performed by each worker to determine the most efficient and risk-free workstation layout for that worker. Why not the same concern for the office worker?
Movement is critical. Despite the old school of thought on the desirability of fixed postures, the overwhelming evidence today shows that fixed postures are inherently dangerous. “Any fixed posture, no matter how closely it approaches the optimal, will generate muscle fatigue,” says Marvin Dainoff, Director of the Centre for Ergonomic Research at Miami University of Ohio. “Therefore, it is important to build in flexibility to allow operators to shift positions easily.”
Our bodies were designed to move. In fact movement, more than anything else, provides nourishment for the spine, keeps the joints lubricated and flexible, improves circulation and removes waste products from the muscles. Conversely, when we don’t move, the elasticity of our spine and joints is reduced and waste products build up in the muscles, causing fatigue. While constant motion is obviously not the goal, frequent positional changes are vitally important to good health.
Minimize extreme postures. While movement is important, so are the postures you assume while performing your daily tasks. Neutral postures, meaning those that require minimal muscle activity to maintain, are synonymous with health and comfort. Extreme postures like abducted shoulders and extended wrists must always be avoided. Maintaining body symmetry is equally important, particularly with respect to the spine. Don’t sit for extended periods in bent or twisted postures.
Avoid contact stress. Focused pressures are extremely dangerous, causing circulation problems and nerve damage in more severe cases. According to OSHA ‘Contact stress affects the soft tissue on the fingers, palms, forearms, thighs, shins and feet. This contact may inhibit blood flow, tendon and muscle movement and nerve function’. Stress like this can be transmitted to arms and wrists by extended contact with the hard, sharp edges of desks and hard armrests on chairs. Likewise, the undersides of thighs are at risk from hard seat edges or simply seats that are too high.
Take breaks. Breaks could include actual work breaks, short exercise or stretch breaks, or simply switching gears and performing a different task for a few minutes. “Appropriate rest breaks, combined with stretching exercises, allow computer workers to sustain work at an appropriate pace, while minimising postural injury risks,” says Dr. Hedge.
Education, education, education. When all is said and done, a worker educated on ergonomics in the workplace is more likely to remain healthy. Such an employee will be aware of critical risk factors, healthy working postures, and more importantly, the warning signs of injuries.
One of the first steps in creating a stress-free office space is to have everything arranged properly. Keep in mind that your body follows your hands and your eyes. Position oft-used work tools in the Neutral Reach Zone – an area that can be accessed with a sweep of the forearm – to uphold a healthy posture.
A Peripheral Vision
Keep your mouse close to the keyboard and arrange both tools within reach. Leaning forward to type or to use your mouse negates the healthful benefits provided by a supportive task chair.
Safety Monitor
Position your monitor for optimal viewing – about an arm’s length away and with the top line of text at eye level – to prevent squinting or leaning to see what’s on-screen.
Light Right (or Left)
Put your task light in its place – off to the side opposite your writing hand. Doing so will allow you to shine the light across the page you’re writing on and adjust its angle without putting down your pen.
Stay Close to the CPU
For easy, in-the-zone access to cables, ports and drives, invest in a CPU holder that glides out from under the desk on a track.
Slatwall-Worthy
Attach binder, paper and pencil holders to your slatwall panel system to stay organized and clear clutter-prone space on the desktop between you and your monitor.
Posted by Gilbert on Aug 18, 2008 in
Materials,
Office Furniture,
Space Planning 
Burj Al Arab - World's Only 7 Star Hotel
The current generation of fabrics has a huge range of useful uses and properties, with the focus now on more than mere issues of aesthetics or touch.
Functionality is the current king: water repellant, anti-bacterial properties; fabrics that enhance the quality of the air; there are all properties that are of tangible value to the retailer and the consumer alike.
Take the Burj Al Arab that creatively used fabric in exterior material for an entire facade of the building.
Here is an article from Wikipedia:
“The space between the wings is enclosed by a Teflon-coated fibreglass sail, curving across the front of the building and creating an atrium inside. The sail is made of a material called Dyneon, spanning over 161,000 square feet (15,000 m²), consists of two layers, and is divided into twelve panels and installed vertically. The fabric is coated with DuPont Teflon to protect it from harsh desert heat, wind, and dirt; as a result, “the fabricators estimate that it will hold up for up to 50 years. The whole design in itself was originally put forward to the design committee by Edah Yllib, a Scandinavian designer. It took great mathematical thinking by this designer, but in the end proved very successful.”
“During the day, the white fabric allows a soft, milky light inside the hotel, whereas a clear glass front would produce blinding amounts of glare and a constantly increasing temperature. At night, both inside and outside, the fabric is lit by color-changing lights.
How about you, have you used fabric in a creative way in your office or interior projects?
