The Work Environment Office ergonomics attempts to look at the impact of layout, ventilation, lighting or décor. Sick building syndrome – employees believe that the building they work in makes them unwell. This is often a result of poor layout, ventilation, lighting or even décor. Many organisations have re-designed their work environment, placing more emphasis on factors such as employee health and work productivity.

Ergonomics – Office Layout Designing the workplace to suit workflow and employee needs.

Cellular Layout Advantages Privacy Status Quiet Regulate heat/light to suit own needs. Disadvantages Wastes space Cannot share resources Employees may feel isolated Uneconomic – lighting/heating. Difficult to supervise Individual offices.

Open Plan Layout Advantages Less wasted space Easy to supervise Design to suit workflow and work groups Sharing resources Staff are not isolated Disadvantages Noisy Lack of privacy No status Can’t regulate heat/light for individual needs. Can be totally open (without any kind of partition of space at all) – Eg G3 Science Room or ‘landscaped’ which is more often the case. Landscaped layouts will use plants, furniture and partitions/screen to create work areas within one large space. (Eg Home Economics and Art Department)

The flow of people and paper around the office. Workflow The flow of people and paper around the office. No matter which layout an organisation chooses, it must ensure the correct workflow. If the layout leads to unnecessary movement around the building and results in delays, hold-ups and frustration then there is a problem of design.

Workflow – Good Design Principles Site associated work areas together, eg sales and purchasing.

Workflow – Good Design Principles No unnecessary physical barriers to get from A to B

Workflow – Good Design Principles Common services or equipment sited centrally for all to use. In addition, the layout chosen should meet the needs of the employees who have to work in it. Open-plan layouts should be landscaped to ensure the disadvantages of this kind of layout are minimised and the advantages maximised. For example, built-in private areas, use of ergonomically designed furniture to allow privacy (eg desk dividers, modesty panels) location of grouped workspaces to house teams/sections together.

The Ergonomic Environment Systems furniture Wall colours Lighting Ventilation Noise control Workstations Protective equipment A good working environment will often have been ergonomically designed and take account of individual needs, including health and safety issues. Features of this will include: see slide

A well designed ergonomic work environment will… improve morale, motivation and productivity; ensure effective workflow; promote health and safety at work; give a positive image for the organisation; be cost effective.