Osmond Ergonomics

This article was originally emailed as our monthly eBulletin at 11:30 on 12/08/2020. You can register here to receive them monthly.

HOME WORKER ASSESSMENTS

We are now beginning to see a rise in musculoskeletal issues amongst home workers because many organisations have failed to take consistent action since the beginning of lockdown. Whilst some have been quick to update their existing processes to accommodate the dramatic rise in personnel working at home, many employers have been slow to address the need for an assessment and training process. Providing chairs, laptop stands and/or spare monitors is only part of the solution and, even with a new chair, health issues can arise because individuals have not had proper setup guidance or understood the sort of postures they are trying to achieve (and avoid!). We are now offering both virtual and traditional face-to-face services and we have also extended and adapted our posture training tools to meet the needs of home workers.

HOME WORKER LOGISTICS

Growing numbers of organisations now have a plan in place for the call-off provision of approved home worker chairs and other products. We continue to expand our portfolio of rapid delivery products and have learned one really important fact: when it comes to delivering individual chairs in large numbers, it’s all about the logistics!

Some of our clients are realising that their established Agile Working programme offered home working by default, rather than by design, and their mainstream office furniture supplier does not fully understand the needs of consistent home deliveries and support. We have been supplying home workers, their equipment, installations and training for over a decade and our hybrid mix of own transport and logistics partners ensures consistent and punctual delivery. Let us know if you need help meeting home worker needs.

CURRENT & FUTURE THINKING

Our recent two-part series of webinars covers the 3 Phases we see employers going through since the pandemic began as well as how we think they need to respond in the future (Phase 4). Depending on your preferred consumption mode, you can now see the content either in our recent blogs or on-demand webinars.

The need to respond quickly continues to be a key issue but employers must be taking a multi-disciplinary, holistic view when creating their forward strategy. Maintaining culture will be a key issue for generating innovation and growth in a difficult commercial climate. Enterprises that sustain and support the essential interactions between workers, wherever they are, will rise to the challenge. We can help with that too!

PRODUCT NEWSLETTER

This eBulletin has provided a general overview and broad mix of news for over ten years. We now plan to introduce an additional email bulletin service that will only be product news. The intention is to provide a complete overview with images, description, specification, dimensions, sustainability criteria and literature downloads all in one place.

There will be one newsletter per product and, unlike this eBulletin, which arrives at the same time on the same day each month, the new service will be delivered as and when we have a new product to tell you about. We expect this to be particularly useful to assessors but there will be many others who will find it useful. To register for this free service, please provide your details here.

NEW DESKS FOR HOME

We have always known that not everyone wants a home-office that looks like the office-office! In response to this, we have been seeking out a table selection that is not only more domestic in appearance but also more compact than the sort of desk we have sold in the past. This is a slow process because, whilst some of our UK suppliers are responding to the new requirements, we are also having to look outside the office furniture industry, find products, talk to new suppliers, set up accounts and resolve logistics.

We have now added a compact oak-legged table (1100m wide x 700mm deep) and a Secretair desk (824mm wide x 612mm deep) with delivery times of less than 7 days and 2 weeks respectively. More designs are on the way.

WORKFIT-Z DRAW WINNER

I am delighted to announce that our latest winner of an Ergotron Workfit-Z is Phil Nartey of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. He will have received it by the time you read this.

Many thanks to all those who took part in the draw and a warm welcome especially to those who are reading this eBulletin for the first time because of your entry. I hope you find it worthwhile!