Workplace comfort may sound like a misnomer however research has shown that the cost of discomfort in the workplace is something every Kent and London business should be taking seriously.
The Cost Of Discomfort
Fellowes, the office supply company, found that of 1,000 office workers surveyed 24% were uncomfortable at their desks and 25% found their working environment had a negative impact on their productivity. Office temperature and technology problems also had an impact of work productivity with 42% having IT issues and 37% reporting they were uncomfortably hot. Fellowes also reports that 43% of office workers claim they are distracted 15 times a day and 50% of office workers say they are unproductive for up to an hour each day which is the equivalent of 21 million workdays lost each month, costing an estimated £3bn a year.
Stephen Bowden, a Fellowes chartered ergonomist explains “One of the main causes of presenteeism is distractions that come in physical, psychological and social forms, which reduces the ability of the person to concentrate on and complete the tasks at hand. When it comes to distractions from your work area design you should try to pre-empt discomfort with a change of posture instead of being prompted by discomfort.”
A study by the American Design Associates found that 68% of employees complain about poor office lighting. Where office lighting is too strong or too low it can cause eye strain and headaches which can impact employees negatively leading to health and wellbeing issues and a fall in productivity.
Of those who replied to an online survey conducted by Healthy Home and Office 57.5% had never had a Display Screen Equipment (DSE) survey, which is a legal requirement for anyone who uses DSE for an hour or more each day. 75% of people also said they had suffered from work-related discomfort in the past 2 years. According to Healthy Home and Office “in the UK alone, businesses are estimated to lose around 28 million working days each year due to work related discomfort. This can result in huge costs and inconvenience for businesses, as well as an estimated cost to the country of over 5 billion pounds annually.”
Harvard Business Review reported a survey carried out by Future Workplace and View of 1601 US employees called “What Employees Want Most from Their Workspaces”. The survey found that “employees want the basics first: better air quality, access to natural light, and the ability to personalize their workspace.” 50% of those employees surveyed said that where air quality was poor it made them sleepy during the day. Over 33% reported up to an hour in lost productivity as a result. Air quality and light were the biggest contributors to employee performance, wellbeing and happiness.
The Harvard Business Review went onto say that “A high-quality workplace – one with natural light, good ventilation, and comfortable temperatures – can reduce absenteeism up to four days a year. With unscheduled absenteeism costing companies an estimated $3,600 annually per hourly worker and $2,650 each year for salaried workers, this can have a major impact on your bottom line.”
The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) “The impact of office design on business performance” suggests there is a strong relationship between self-reported productivity and perceived comfort. Differences as high as 25% were reported between comfortable and uncomfortable staff. The report states that “Productivity, health and satisfaction variables are almost always linked to comfort – the better the occupants think the indoor environment is, the more likely people are to say they are productive, healthy and happy.” The most important factors were found to be air quality, followed by temperature, overall comfort, noise, and lighting.
The CABE report states that “improving users well-being in buildings, through the so-called ‘hygiene factors’ relating to health and comfort, is the essential first step in improving business performance.” CABE highlights research by healthcare consultancy IHC, which found that 40 million days are lost each year in the UK through workplace absenteeism and of these at least 70% are related to health issues.
According to the Confederation of British Industry £11.5bn was paid out during 2002 in wages to absent employees and on additional overtime and temporary staff cover.
Office Design and Refurbishment Can Improve Office Comfort
It’s clear that workplace discomfort causes a drop in worker productivity and can lead to an increased number of sick days. There are many office design factors that come into play to make an office space “comfortable” for staff. Some of the many factors that companies should consider when designing and refurbishing their offices are outlined below.
Air Quality
We know that air quality can have a profound effect on the workplace environment. Where office air quality is poor staff can suffer from a variety of symptoms including sore throats, a dry cough, runny nose, eye irritation, breathing issues, skin problems, dizziness, nausea, irritability and fatigue.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) states that “Air quality in the workplace is the most important environmental issue you probably weren’t aware of“. They go onto list a number of key takeaway messages regarding air quality in the workplace including that “improved workplace air quality through a 95% reduction in indoor pollution could boost London employees’ productivity by up to 15% and deliver an additional £38bn of economic activity to the London economy, boosting overall output by between 4% and 8%.”
Designing and refurbishing an office space is the perfect time to look at installing a new air conditioning system or upgrading your old air conditioning system. An air conditioning system will improve the air quality by enabling staff to keep windows shut to prevent outdoor pollution making its way indoors. It will also help to filter out dust, dirt, pollen, mould and bacteria.
Temperature
Year on year the UK is experiencing unprecedented temperatures which in turn affect staff working in offices. Although there is no legal maximum working temperature the UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states that heat is classed as a hazard and employers still have a legal duty to ensure that their staff are working in a safe and properly controlled environment. It’s important to note that it isn’t just high temperatures that can affect office staff low temperatures can also have an impact.
Where indoor temperature isn’t controlled, it can lead to an uncomfortable working environment and cause a variety of symptoms including dizziness, nausea, dehydration, fatigue, and headaches, ultimately making it harder to work efficiently and effectively.
Poor temperature control can also lead to a drop in productivity. In a month-long study carried out by Cornell University a controlled increase in temperature was shown to have a positive impact on office workers. When the office temperature was increased to 77°F (25°C) from 68°F (20°C), typing errors fell by 44% and typing output increased by 150%.
Alan Hedge, professor of design and environmental analysis and director of Cornell’s Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory said, “The results of our study also suggest raising the temperature to a more comfortable thermal zone saves employers about $2 per worker, per hour.” He went onto say that “At 77 degrees Fahrenheit, the workers were keyboarding 100 percent of the time with a 10 percent error rate, but at 68 degrees, their keying rate went down to 54 percent of the time with a 25 percent error rate. Temperature is certainly a key variable that can impact performance.”
Office temperature can be controlled by incorporating a Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system into your office design and refurbishment. If you already have an HVAC which isn’t efficient it may be possible to adapt the current system by making changes such as rerouting ducts.
Lighting
Incorporating as much natural light into an office design and layout is vital so placement of office desks should be carefully considered. Where natural light isn’t available it’s important to ensure the right level and type of light is part of the office design. Lighting shouldn’t be generic. It needs to match the task. The HSE’s “Human factors: Lighting, thermal comfort, working space, noise and vibration” highlights that “different levels of lighting are required for different types of work. However, when considering lighting, a number of different factors need to be considered such as colour, contrast, glare and so on.”
Individuals should also be able to control their lighting levels within an office space. Studies have shown that even if users have different lighting preferences “provision of control even in a multi-user office resulted in a higher satisfaction with the lighting environment than in an office with a fixed light level.”
Noise
Noise can be a major problem in offices.
A study carried out by Oscar Acoustics of 2,000 office workers found that only 8% of those workers who took part in the survey worked in a quiet office. 40% of office workers said poor acoustics impacted their ability to concentrate and 33% said their mood was negatively impacted. 33% also said they were late with projects, or the quality of their work had suffered as a consequence of noise. Only 20% felt their employer took the problem seriously. The study went onto report that 15% of UK office workers believed their workplaces have damaged their hearing. 25% reported noise induced stress and 20% said office noise had led to disturbed sleep.
Ben Hancock from Oscar Acoustics said “Noise may seem like a minor irritant, but not addressing it could hurt your business’s bottom line and put your employees’ health at risk. While aesthetics are important, you also have to consider how people work and ensure that there are spaces for collaboration, concentration and connection.”
Minimising office noise should be part and parcel of any office design and refurbishment. The use of suspended and acoustic ceiling tiles can be an effective measure in absorbing noise, to help to reduce echoes and prevent sound from bouncing around adjacent office areas. Acoustic screens, partition walls, panels and dividers can also be used as noise barriers to absorb unwanted noise, preventing it from passing from office to office. Office plants are also effective noise barriers as their as leaves, branches and stems absorb, deflect and refract sound.
When designing the office layout keeping main office areas separate and distanced from meeting rooms, meeting areas, breakout spaces, kitchen and tea points can help to minimise the impact of nosier areas on quieter areas. The placement and spacing of workstations should be carefully considered as placing staff desks directly in line of sight allows sound to travel in a direct path. Using soft furnishings and carpet rather than hard flooring can help to minimise the reverberations that can be created when sound comes into contact with hard surfaces.
When tackling office noise ceilings, walls and flooring should be tackled as a whole during the office design phase as dealing with each element individually is less likely to be successful.
Furniture
When choosing office furniture don’t make the mistake of choosing furniture purely for aesthetic reasons, but which sacrifices comfort. Trendy office furniture may look great to begin with but it’s unlikely to be able to provide the right level of support a good office chair will provide. Staff won’t thank you for office furniture that’s uncomfortable and which causes back and neck ache. Workplace furniture may seem trivial but it will play a vital role in staff productivity, health and wellbeing.
It’s important to make sure the office desks and chairs you choose can be adjusted to the right height. Unison provides a Display Screen Equipment Guide “Are you sitting comfortably?” which explains how to work comfortably and avoid health problems associated with computer use. It provides guidance on how to set up your workstation so that it feels comfortable particularly in the back, neck, shoulders, arms and hands and what to do if you experience any difficulties. The HSE also supply a Display screen equipment (DSE) workstation checklist which can be used to complete a risk assessment so that you comply with the Schedule to the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 as amended by the Health and Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2002.
It’s also important to carefully choose reception, kitchen and breakout area furniture to ensure that they also provide the right support and are comfortable too.
JBH Refurbishments, Experts In Office Design and Refurbishment
JBH Refurbishments are a cat a and cat b fit out contractor for Kent and London. We understand what’s required to carry out office design and office refurbishments to ensure comfort. We can provide the right expertise for your project. Contact us via our contact form or by calling us on 0333 207 0339 today for a free on-site consultation.
