Healthy workplace, healthy business

Chris Parkes, Operations Director at Julius Rutherfoord – winner of the ‘healthy workplace’ category for the second time running in the Kimberly-Clark Professional Golden Service Awards 2015 – shares advice on how facilities managers can help improve work-place well-being.

A recent report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) indicated that fewer than one in ten (8 per cent) of UK organisations have a standalone well-being strategy that supports wider business goals. Maintaining the right workplace environment can reduce absence and employee turnover, whilst simultaneously increasing performance and productivity.

Facilities need more than just great cleaning to be a healthy workplace. Although tackling germs is important, often staff well-being, motivation and productivity can be increased through a more holistic approach to your working culture. Well-being starts with the physical environment – noise, light, space, footfall, temperature, ventilation and cleanliness all make a big difference to staff productivity and morale.

As well as ensuring these fundamental working conditions are in place, consider extra measures to boost employee well-being. Actions like providing fresh fruit, water dispensers for hydration, adding cycle racks to encourage staff to cycle to work and offering flexible working can create a healthy working culture and improve business performance.

Well-being champions

With the support of Kimberly-Clark Professional, my organisation implemented a Healthy Workplace Initiative in 2012, taking a number of steps to reduce risk from germ hotspots. Frequently used objects such as lift buttons, kettles, microwaves and door handles present the greatest threat of germs spreading. Actions included swab testing for germs, introducing specially formulated mobile phone cleaning wipes and running staff workshops where tips to help reduce the spread of bacteria were shared.

Those organisations looking to introduce a healthy workplace programme of their own should appoint a Health and Well-being Champion, or champions, to ensure that initiatives are communicated throughout the business and to encourage healthy workplace thinking. Ensure every new employee receives a healthy workplace induction to ensure they understand the company ethos and the wider benefits of hygiene and well-being. These activities should be communicated via the staff newsletter and company intranet.

You could introduce a ‘Cleaner Desk Initiative’ and highlight the benefits of a cleaner, more organised desk through staff communications to promote a better workplace environment. Regular housekeeping competitions between different head office departments, help to maintain awareness and standards.

Office design

Space and working conditions should be carefully considered. Spending long hours sitting in the same fixed posture is not good for the body. To address the health implications of sitting for prolonged periods, when specifying furniture, introduce height adjustable desks to allow staff the option of both standing and sitting as they work. A more flexible approach to the design of office furniture promotes movement and circulation.

Consider designing a quiet zone area where employees can escape from the normal office hubbub, and breakout areas with soft furnishings for meetings.

Clean your tech

Most of us use laptops, tablet computers and smart phones, and because of the frequent contact with our hands and proximity to our faces, germs are easily transferred to them. Bacteria can build up on these devices to alarmingly high levels, in the worst cases up to 18 times higher than you might find on a toilet seat. Introduce healthy workplace kits, including tissues, sanitising hand gel and keyboard wipes and distribute these throughout the office to encourage staff to keep their tech clean and reduce contamination. Use specially formulated cleaning wipes that are designed to clean hi-tech devices without damaging the electronics or screens.

Encourage better washroom behaviour

Statistics indicate that there are many of us who don’t wash or dry our hands effectively. Worse still, there are some who fail to wash their hands at all after using the toilet. Effective washroom systems play a large part in encouraging good hygiene practice.

Display handwashing awareness posters or consider installing hygiene handles on washroom doors that dispense hand sanitising gel when people exit the washroom, so there’s less chance of germs spreading. If you want to encourage staff  to develop good hand hygiene habits, hand washing facilities or sanitiser dispensers should be easily accessible in all the ‘critical points’ around the building. Make sure they are readily available within washrooms, reception areas, and food preparation areas.

Don’t eat at your desks

 Too often we eat at our desks whilst answering emails or report writing, because we feel too busy to stop. Crumbs can accumulate on desks and in the cracks of keyboards. This helps to feed high levels of bacteria – it’s been reported that a typical office desk can harbour more than 6,000 bacteria per square inch. This is clearly unacceptable when restaurants with surfaces that contain more than 700 bacteria per square inch are considered unsanitary.

These unhygienic conditions encourage the growth of bacteria which can lead to sickness absenteeism. Companies, where possible, should provide dining facilities and encourage staff to take a break at lunchtime. This will have the added benefit of boosting concentration levels and productivity.

Training

Training will help ensure accidents are avoided. Make sure facilities management equipment has good ergonomic characteristics to avoid staff working with awkward postures. Re-train staff every six months on key issues, including health and safety, site specific requirements and new and existing cleaning and FM methods.

 Chemical hazards

Instead of using harsh (and often harmful) chemical solutions to sanitise surfaces – such as office desks and kitchen countertops – enzyme-based biological cleaning products are a much safer, sustainable, and therefore healthier option.

Pure water systems, microfibre cloths and diamond encrusted twister pads are just some of the options that can be used to reduce or even eliminate the need for chemical cleaning agents. Where cleaning products are required there is a range of chemical free cleaning products which are tried and tested to provide the same level of results as chemical solutions.

Fair pay

Ensure direct employees are paid the Living Wage or London Living Wage as a minimum and actively encourage contractors to adopt the Living Wage.

A survey of Living Wage workplaces in London showed employers who implemented the London Living Wage saved money by reducing staff turnover rates (by as much as 25%) and lowering levels of staff sickness. Increased productivity, resulting from a fairer wage can more than cancel out the increase in wages.

Discourage presenteeism

Employees may be apprehensive about taking sick leave in these times of job insecurity and come to work when ill, increasing the likelihood of infections spreading. Sickness presence (presenteeism) can adversely affect general staff performance, morale and contribute to longer recovery periods from illness. Staff who are ill should be required to stay at home until the symptoms disappear to reduce the risk of infection at work and help keep new cases of sickness to a minimum. Consider providing paid sick leave above the statutory requirement to encourage sick employees not to spread illness through the workplace.

Measure the impact

Whilst there are many unmeasurable benefits of a workplace well-being programme, there is a strong quantifiable impact. Over a three-year period, from 2013-2015, my organisation has been measuring the impact of measures introduced to improve workplace well-being. We have seen the total number of staff sick days reduce by 26%, during a time when six additional people joined the company. Average sick days per head office person has reduced from 2.8 in 2013 to 1.85 in 2015 (against a UK average of 4.4). There has been a significant improvement in desk cleanliness with swab testing of bacteria levels showing a reduction of up to 91%.

By looking at the workplace as a whole, companies can do a vast amount to improve the well-being of their employees and reduce the incidence of workplace illness.

www.julius-r.co.uk

Published in i-FM – 31st March 2016