A Healthy Office - 5 points to create the best one yet!

This year we need to focus more than ever to create healthy office spaces. But why do we need to do this? Well, amazing as it may sound, in the UK alone 141.4 million days were lost to sickness in 2018, and 27% 0f these were for 'Minor Illnesses', defined as coughs, colds, flu, nausea, etc. Just check out the stats: This is a huge loss of productivity and a highly expensive issue for UK businesses. As such it’s vital that companies proactively do all they can to improve the well-being of their people, and look at ways to make sure they are comfortable, healthy, and engaged while at work. There are various ways to do this. We’ve detailed our top 5 tips for helping your office staff to remain at work and working productively. Check out our tips below to make sure you can create a healthy office in 2020 and improve your business performance!  
Healthy Office tip 1 - Get the right desks.

Firstly, it is vital that staff who spend a lot of their time sitting at a desk are given one that correctly meets their needs. According to the Office of National Statistics, musculoskeletal problems resulted in 30.8 million days being lost in 2016. These include back pain, neck and upper limb problems. By using standing desks employees can alter their position, helping them avoid back and neck pain associated with sitting in the same position for prolonged periods. Check out a review of the best ones here.  
Healthy Office tip 2 - Improve your staff’s diet.
 

Create a healthy office with fruit boxes

Some problems are simple to fix. By helping your staff avoid junk food and unhealthy snacks their health and mood can be positively affected. This in turn leads to higher productivity and better service to your clients. One simple way to cut out the cookies is to replace them with an office fruit box. There are companies up and down the country that provide a regular delivery of high-quality fresh fruit. The costs aren’t high - factor in the savings made on sick pay and lost time and it’s a clear winner.
Healthy Office tip 3 - Pick your office chairs carefully.

It may be tempting to just go for the cheapest chairs or the ones that look the most stylish but we wouldn’t recommend this at all. This is because staff spend so much time sitting down it’s vital that you engage the services of office furniture professionals who know exactly what they’re talking about. As a result, you get office chairs that are ergonomic, provide enough support and comfort, and come in at the right budget. Important features to look out for include lumbar support, adequate cushioning, good quality castors, arm-rests, and height adjustment. 
Healthy Office tip 4 - Improve the environment.
Making sure that your office has fresh air and enough natural light can make a huge difference.  Being cooped up in a stuffy, dark ‘box’ of an office can have highly adverse effects on your employee’s mood. This leads to loss of productivity, days taken off sick, and a dip in your staff motivation. Biophilic design emphasises the need for humans to remain connected with nature, and depriving them of this sub-conscious need can be very detrimental to the health of your staff. 
Healthy Office tip 5 - Introduce plants.

Adding plants into your office has a hugely positive effect on your staff's well-being and mood. Office plants will remove toxins from the air that cause Sick Building Syndrome, and also help maintain a healthy, comfortable level of humidity in the office. Symptoms of SBS can be dry or itchy skin and eyes, nose or throat, and headaches, This leads to lethargy irritability and poor concentration. Office Plants can help overcome these issues and keep your staff healthy and working to the best of their potential. For some ideas, check out our recommended planting choices for desk plants.   So, what difference will it make? See below for the chart again, showing which given sickness reasons could instantly be improved by the above recommendations: Need more ideas or recommendations to create your healthier office for 2020? Get in touch with our team and we'll be more than happy to help.
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