Are you sitting comfortably?

It’s a well-known fact that employees are a business’ most valuable and expensive commodity and their happiness is paramount to its success. However, research shows that an employees’ productivity is intrinsically linked to their working environment.

As a result, effective workplace interiors are becoming the catalyst for more efficient and profitable facilities.

A recent survey undertaken by The Office Exhibition, which questioned over 1,000 office workers from across the GCC, indicated that almost 90 per cent regard the design and layout of their office as affecting their level of motivation.

However, only 50 per cent of this margin revealed that they had ever received a workplace assessment. This percentage is grossly disproportionate to European statistics although not many employers within the GCC seem to be carrying out work station assessments, according to Office Exhibition show director Sinead Bridgett.

However, while the UAE is statistically slow to adopt an ergonomic approach to workplace development, Middle Eastern companies are starting to realise the benefits of incorporating ergonomic elements within their office environments explains CitySpace design director Nick Burnett.

“We have noticed an increased awareness and ergonomic design considerations across our client projects, but, as the survey clearly shows, there is still some way to go,” he said.

Siddharth Peters of Total Office affirms that the growth of research and knowledge available is slowly filtering through to the UAE, which is actively changing attitudes towards work place interiors.

“Employers have realised the financial and social benefits of ergonomics: these products increase productivity and reduce injuries. This has only become more prominent with the ever increasing reach of the internet and the need for every employee to have continuous access to a computer for long periods of time.”

Ergonomic investment
While ergonomics is the science of designing the job, equipment, and workplace to fit the worker, proper ergonomic design is necessary to ensure the heath and safety of its operators.
 

More commonly, employees are suffering from injuries such as RSI (repetitive strain injury) in the workplace at the hands of inadequate or poorly suited equipment. Such ailments can develop over time and in a worst-case scenario, lead to long-term disability, which act as reminders of the effect a poorly designed work space can have on the body.

In response to a FM’s growing need to accommodate the ergonomic necessities of employees, designers have been forced to create a new range of interior solutions.

This culture of innovation has inspired the development of office products that are cheaper, easier to use and more environmentally viable. This, in addition to a universal desire to use fewer parts in a bid to lower prices and further limit the environmental impact, has created a situation that favors increasingly minimalist designs.

These designs address ergonomic issues at their most basic level while simplifying their usage, explains Tim Hutchings of Humanscale, which is an ergonomics company responsible for the research, design and manufacture of workplace tools and resources.

“It is critical for example, that workstations have the ability to accommodate different sizes of individuals. Intelligent ergonomic tools should enable users to assume neutral body postures without them really knowing it. Ease of use is primary because people rarely read product instructions.”

With the general acceptance of the need for ergonomics in the workplace, the parameters of ergonomic design have shifted hugely. Designers are moving more towards radical creations in the name of facilitating ideal working environments.

These include innovations such as Steelcases’ Walkstation, which is a desk with an in-built treadmill to combine exercise and work. Similarly, in a bid to reduce the strain on the body that comes with sitting for hours at a time, manufacturers such as Teknion has created the Quick Shift, which is a desk that is easily adjustable to allow users to sit or stand as they work.

Norwegian design outfit HAG has joined the innovators with a fleet of new products including a new chair with grooved footplates that encourages the sitter to pump their feet to stimulate circulation.

FM’s have also come to recognise the importance of intangibles such as the positioning of computer screens, the removal of clutter and the effects of lighting on the efficacy of an office space.

Designers have responded with specialised solutions such as PowerDesk, which has introduced the Freemote that allows remote control of a PC up to 10 metres away, while still providing CD and zip drives and other such essentials at the workspace.

Other innovators such as Colebrook Bosson Saunders is leading the way in maneuverable screens as well as cable and hardware management with its Avall range and Zorro monitor arms.

The hot seat
One recurrent issue at the forefront of employees’ ergonomic concerns is suitable seating solutions. Identified as one of the three key areas that cause the most discomfort in the Office Exhibition’s survey, 64 per cent of respondents complained of experiencing some back pain as a result of an unsuitable work chair.

Now that employees are spending more time at their desks than ever before, office chair design has developed to become an integral part of the whole interior. “Chairs are a dominant part of every interior concept,” said Bassem Demachkie, marketing and communication at Officeland.

“A chair, apart from a bed, is the single piece of furniture that comes into regular contact with the human body. Consequently, the look and feel of seating furniture subconsciously influences the way we perceive a room, whether it’s ‘inviting’, ‘comfortable’, ‘cozy’ or generally positive.”

Research suggests that interiors, including furnishings – and chairs specifically – affect people’s perception of spaces, their sense of well-being, and their sense of the style and culture of the organisation for which they work.

Demachkie explained that people make judgments (consciously or sub-consciously) of a business and their care and concern for employees based on what they observe in the interior. Mark Schurman, director of external communications at Herman Miller even suggests that chairs, that are perceived to be comfortable and visually well designed will influence others perceptions of an organisation.

Designers advise that identifying the purpose is the first step in the creating of an office chair, whether it is designed to cater for call centers, architects, journalists or engineers, as each of these occupations have different requirements.

“Different jobs require employees to sit on an office chair for dissimilar lengths of time and are likely to be using the chair quite differently. For design and functionality to have a common ground, the target audience or ‘end user’ is most important,” said Siddarth Peter, managing director of The Total Office.

In terms of design, this is dependent on each individual client’s needs. When considering an office chair for general staff the ‘must haves’ are, height, seat depth, tension control, lumbar support and arm rests. These imperative qualities must be functional and accessible according to Siddarth.

“The easier you can have these adjusted, the faster the end user gets accustomed to using all the functionality available to them.”

Space stations
While a significant proportion of the working day is spent at a desk, computers and office equipment are not the only factors that influence the performance of the workplace and its occupants.

Industry professionals acknowledge that the entire working space is key to how well people can complete their work tasks. As a result, many aim to overcome stress and increase productivity by creating a more relaxed convivial workplace, and so, efficient space management is very important for any fast-growing business.

The eastern practice of Feng Shui is having a subtle impact on some aspects of workplace interiors in the Middle East as companies adopt new practices to try and stimulate productivity.

Feng Shui in the work place considers that cultural and social issues are influenced by natural, metaphysical and cosmological factors. As a result, advocates of the ancient practice believe that seating, desk setups, lighting and other factors can affect working levels and overall performance.

While it may dictate aspects of eastern work ethics down to traffic flow and urban planning, its influence on Middle Eastern working environments is still very minimal.

Playing the green card
One thing that industry professionals do agree on is that the progress made in the ergonomic discipline along with advances in workplace interior design pivots on a long term ability to be sustainable.

“Sustainability is a huge buzz word in our market” explains Siddarth, because “recyclable materials are currently very popular, and the ability to have an item produced from recyclable materials is very important to the survival of the industry.”

“Using wood from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) protected forests, having products Green-guard certified, and ensuring each of the product lines contributes towards LEED – leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – points, is just a few of things that manufacturers need to take into account,” he said.

LEED is a relatively new concept in workplace interiors, although its primary concern is to emphasise the responsibility of the designers and manufacturers to help a building gain accreditation by considering and incorporating sustainability into the making of chairs, and other furniture.

“We implement environmentally sensitive design through a design protocol that is embedded in all our industrial design activities, which we call Design for the Environment, or DfE”. said Schurman.

“Using sustainable materials, from recycled steel and alluminium to new ‘smart’ plastics like polypropylene to create truly ‘green’ products, we are also working hard to eliminate materials and chemicals that are not sustainable, like PVC, or dyes in textiles that are produced with non-eco friendly chemicals,” he added.

While the UAE may be slower to adapt to the ergonomic standards employed by other countries around the world, companies have a vested interest in improving workplace interiors, which in time will result in greater gains and a more productive workforce.