Osmond Ergonomics

This article was originally emailed as issue 163 of our monthly eBulletin at 11:30 on 14/06/2023. You can register here to receive them monthly.

HOW HAVE OUR WORKPLACES CHANGED SINCE THE PANDEMIC?

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work. The lockdown-mandated flip to homeworking had a profound impact, not only on how and where we work, but also on work culture, office space design and work-life balance. So, three years out, what have we learned, and what will we take forward? How have our expectations and priorities shifted and what may the future of the physical office look like? [more]

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS TRILOGY

Our mental health webinar series, created and delivered by Robert Manson of Haldane Health, finishes with Part 3 on Wednesday June 21st at 10:00 (postponed from earlier in the month). Managing Stress at Work addresses the main causes and common indicators of stress and concludes with methods for reducing it in the workplace. In doing so, it draws together the themes already raised. Find out more and register for Episode 3 here. If you missed the first two sessions, you can find the recordings on our Webinars on Demand page.

DXT3 MOUSE

I don’t often talk about products in this newsletter but we are getting great feedback about the latest version of the DXT, particularly from a recent survey of DSE assessors. The DXT3 is slightly larger than the DXT2 so suits a bigger hand. It has also had a significant technology upgrade that includes a bespoke app for easy configuration. The precision grip offers an excellent alternative to more traditional vertical mice, especially where accurate and detailed work is required. To find out more, including two explanatory videos, click here. If you want to buy, use code DXTOSMOND10 for a 10% discount..

WOW ERGONOMICS

I spent an entertaining hour with Graham Coath and Steven Howe this month, as guest of the Wow Ergonomics podcast. We had a wide-ranging conversation about, amongst other things, Hybrid Working, the complexity of designing for everyone, neurodiversity and the validity of DSE assessments. I may even have nearly answered some of Graham’s questions! If you would like to know more, the recording can be found here.

WORKPLACE TRENDS – NEXT UK EVENT

I have mentioned the Workplace Trends conference series in the past and much of my thinking evolves from presentations and conversations at these events. The next one is in London on October 18, 2023 and the theme is The Office as a Desired Destination. Ideas about hybrid working continue to evolve and I have mentioned the ‘magnetic office’ before. Put simply, you have to make the office a place people want to attend, whether it’s full- or part-time. Early-bird tickets are available now.

This article was originally emailed as issue 162 of our monthly eBulletin at 14:30 on 10/05/2023. You can register here to receive them monthly.

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH

It is entirely logical that Stress Awareness Month (April) is immediately followed by Mental Health Awareness Month (May) which contains, for those with a limited attention span, Mental Health Awareness Week (15th – 21st). This year’s theme is Anxiety. If you find yourself thinking that anxiety and stress are much the same thing, then perhaps you have never experienced either. Whilst the symptoms have a lot in common, their origin is completely different. For our long-standing supporters, the attention we are giving to these topics may, at first, seem surprising for a company that has been talking about physical ergonomics and musculoskeletal health for over 30 years. However, we have been talking about the connection between physical and mental health for over a decade – long before the Covid pandemic drew attention to mental health issues. Expect to see even more from us in the future!

THE ROBERT MANSON SHOW!

Last month we introduced our first guest speaker to our free webinars and we are delighted with the response to the first of three interlinked sessions delivered for us by Robert Manson of Haldane Health. Starting with Personal Energy Management (now available on catch-up), we are progressing through Developing Personal Resilience and Managing Stress at Work in May and June. Robert’s wide experience in global organisations brings unique insights and a healthy pragmatism to his broadcasts.

AND THE STUART ENTWISTLE SHOW!

Alongside our guest sessions, we are also extending the scope of our in-house webinars. As previously mentioned, our Training Manager, Stuart, is exploring more mental-health-related topics over coming weeks. His May session is Sleep and, in June, he will be talking about Biophilia. For insights and tips about how to optimise your personal benefits from these two topics, find out more and register here.

CLERKENWELL DESIGN WEEK

I also mentioned CDW last month, but a lot has been happening in the meantime. There are some important relocations; some international companies opening Clerkenwell showrooms for the first time and even companies I have never heard of announcing new premises. In addition, there are significant presentations and discussions between industry celebrities, influencers, international designers – and me! To hear me talk about The Value of an Overheard Conversation, come to the new Dynamobel showroom for 11:30 on Wednesday 24th May. To find out more about CDW and register, click here.

FREE RESOURCE ACCESS

Do you carry out workstation assessments? Do you use our online resources? Do you ever want to show them to clients during the assessment process? If so, you will be pleased to know that you no longer need to login to do so. During conversations at our recent, highly successful DSE Assessor Event in Bristol, it was suggested that the need to login or register is really inconvenient – so we have removed this feature! You can now access our entire website without logging in.

This article was originally emailed as issue 161 of our monthly eBulletin at 11:30 on 12/04/2023. You can register here to receive them monthly.

STRESS AWARENESS MONTH

As you probably already know, April is Stress Awareness Month. What you may not realise is that this has been the case for over 30 years. I am delighted to see that stress and its successful management is finally getting the attention and support it deserves. In recognition of this (and Mental Health Awareness Week on May 15-21), we shall be offering a free 3-part webinar series, starting on April 19th. This is also our first Guest Speaker Series, featuring Robert Manson. Robert has extensive experience from senior roles at RWE, Morrisons and GlaxoSmithKline and now runs his own consultancy, Haldane Health. Find out more about our free webinars and register here.

CLERKENWELL DESIGN WEEK

London’s Clerkenwell is home to more creative businesses and architects per square mile than anywhere else on the planet. ‘The UK’s leading independent design festival’, CDW returns on May 23-25 this year. Amongst the numerous events and presentations taking place, the key manufacturers in the UK workplace design and furniture industry throw open their showrooms to display their latest products. I shall be speaking at 11:30 on Wednesday May 24 at the new Dynamobel showroom (so new that it hasn’t even opened yet!). Look out for full details in the May eBulletin.

NEW PRODUCTS

Whilst many of our competitors add anything and everything to their portfolio, we are much more selective. Even products from existing manufacturing partners have to go through our WoW Factor process to make it into our range and onto our website. As you might expect, we reject more than we accept! Since the start of 2023, we have declined 60% of the new designs we have assessed. To stay abreast of our recommendations, many clients subscribe to our Product Radar newsletters. Unlike this eBulletin, Product Radar emails are published ad hoc and only when we have a worthy new contender to show you. See our recent additions and/or register here.

WEBINARS ON DEMAND

All our live webinars are recorded and added to our website. A link is then emailed to all registered delegates for access to the video recording after the event. It is, therefore, always worth registering for any topic that interests you, even if the timing conflicts with other diary commitments. That way, you can catch up in your own time at some stage in the future. You can see our archive of View on Demand recordings here. They are all free but you will need to register for access.

SWITCHBOARD HOURS

From Monday April 17th, our switchboard hours will change to 09:00 – 17:00 Monday to Friday. This is an industry norm and, since other electronic communication methods have now eclipsed the telephone, the volume of calls has diminished significantly over the years and especially since the pandemic. This slight restriction of core telephone hours also allows us to give the Customer Service team greater flexibility over start and finish times so you may well find that you get email responses outside these hours.

This article was originally emailed as issue 160 of our monthly eBulletin at 11:30 on 08/03/2023. You can register here to receive them monthly.

WELLBEING & PRODUCTIVITY WEBINAR SERIES

We have now started to roll out our 2023 plans for further webinar and training topics. These cover a broader spectrum of subjects. They go beyond our traditional DSE base but they still fall under the heading of Wellbeing & Productivity. General webinar sessions are available free and cover the fundamentals of each topic. They can also be branded or tailored for use on your intranet, in Lunch & Learns, on Wellbeing Days or as part of a more comprehensive Learning and Development programme. For a full consultancy service, we are teaming up with industry experts to offer a holistic approach to your L&D needs. See our free webinar programme here or view the new ones individually: Email Management – Sleep – Biophilia.

DSE ASSESSOR DAY EVENT – 18.04.23

We have been agreeably surprised by the number of registrations for our Bristol training day. We thought the venue would be big enough but we are getting close to capacity. Whilst the content is obviously attracting delegates, several have also mentioned the vineyard venue. Is there a better way to end a great day of learning and networking than a bottle of wine to take home afterwards? To be sure of a place, check out the agenda and register now.

WORKPLACE TRENDS RESEARCH SUMMIT – 19.04.23

The 2023 event is on April 19th. This year looks very promising once again with a broad range of UK and overseas presenters from both commerce and academia. Employers everywhere are asking for data on which to base their decisions about hybrid working, corporate real estate and employee wellbeing. This is the place to find it! This year’s topics include Indoor Positioning Systems, Organisational Network Analysis, Acoustic Perception, Human-Centric Transformation and Self Determination Theory. It may sound like Buzzword Bingo in a single sentence but it’s actually lots of really valuable information! Find out more and register here.

TOP TIPS VIDEOS

When we declared 2022 our ‘Year of Knowledge Sharing’, one of our new initiatives was the introduction of our Top Tips video library. We continue to add to this and now have over 20 clips covering topics as diverse as ‘Acoustics’ and ‘Why use a compact keyboard?’. Almost all of them last less than a minute so they are a great way to share wellbeing and ergonomics ideas with your colleagues or clients. Check the latest additions at bit.ly/oe-top-tips  or here if you prefer YouTube. And feel free to share them!

SUSTAINABILITY IN THE OFFICE FURNITURE INDUSTRY

Historically, the process of equipping and re-equipping the workplace has been very wasteful and sustainability was not given much consideration. In recent years, and especially since the post-Covid focus on Net Zero, designers, manufacturers and office dealers like ourselves have been reviewing every element of the industry to see where improvements can be made. Perhaps 3D printing will also become a key part of that process. I explored this idea in my recent blog about the Stockholm Furniture Fair.

This article was originally emailed as issue 159 of our monthly eBulletin at 11:30 on 11/01/2023. You can register here to receive them monthly.

BRISTOL DSE EVENT

Following last month’s teaser, we are delighted to announce our next event for DSE Assessors on Tuesday April 18, 2023. This time, we are teaming up with our friends at Ergochair and the location is just outside Bristol. We always aim to ensure our events are far-from-standard so we have chosen a vineyard location (and guess what your goodie bag will include!). Since it’s a little out of town, we shall be providing collection and return services for both Bristol Temple Meads Station and Bristol Airport. Obviously, it’s a full and varied programme with plenty of interaction and networking opportunities. And, of course, it’s free! Find out more and be one of the first to register here.

CONFERENCES & EXHIBITIONS

Depending when you read this, I am actually attending – or just back from – the Stockholm Furniture Fair. Watch out for my report blog in the near future. We are now entering the conference and exhibition season so here are a few more events that I shall be attending as a delegate. Depending on your background and role, one or more of these should be of interest.

Workspace Design Show (London)
Health & Wellbeing at Work (Birmingham)
Workplace Trends Research Summit (London)
Clerkenwell Design Week (London)

Let me know if you decide to attend one or more of these and want to meet up.

PRODUCT RADAR

We introduced our Product Radar emails in September 2020 to provide an effective way to keep subscribers informed of new products as we add them to our range and ensure they are ‘on your radar’. All products have been through our WoW Factor process so they are tested and endorsed by us, not just ‘new stuff’. This has proved particularly popular with assessors, Health & Safety professionals and Occupational Health personnel supporting office workers. We have had a flurry of new products since the start of the year so it is opportune to remind our readers who have not yet subscribed. You can see the archive of postings here or register here.

VAT ONLINE

You may have noticed that everything on our website has increased in price in the last few days. In fact, no prices have changed but everything is showing a 20% increase because we now show VAT-inclusive pricing. In an ideal world, we should be able to give you the choice to see VAT-inclusive or -exclusive pricing but that apparently straightforward requirement turns out to be far more complicated than expected with our current website platform (and we have researched this thoroughly). Since we are receiving more and more personal purchases for homeworkers, this change makes sense for the time being.

WEBSITE FEEDBACK

For many reasons, including the VAT issue, we are currently working on a new platform for a brand new website. We would love more feedback from users about your experience. Please let me know anything you think is missing, what drives you up the wall, what you find really useful or just a general comment about how you get on with the current format. We have lots of our own ideas but your feedback is even more important. You can email me here.