Introduction
Workplace wellbeing will be more important than ever in our post lockdown world. Working from home has really put us to the test, both as businesses and individuals, and we’ve all had to adjust to being cooped up indoors without the ability to socialise or communicate face-to-face with colleagues and friends.
When the time comes for companies to start bringing employees back into the workplace, businesses will come under intense scrutiny for how they manage the wellbeing of their staff.
Air Quality Monitoring
Air quality in the workplace has been a hot topic of discussion for a little while now, but it is more important than ever that we start to monitor our indoor air quality.
Air quality is a subjective area, but many studies have shown that even very small amounts of pollutants can have a direct effect on employees’ comfort and productivity as well as on their respiratory health and wellbeing.
Symptoms associated with Sick Building Syndrome include headaches, eye, nose or throat irritation, dry mucous membranes, dry skin, nasal symptoms, breathing difficulties, abnormal taste sensation, distorted sense of smell, tiredness, dizziness, lack of concentration and nausea.
Reducing the indoor air pollution and monitoring the air quality is an effective way of improving the comfort, health and productivity of building occupants.
Sound Masking and Soundscapes
Employees have been so used to being in home offices where they generally have privacy and less noise distractions. The turn to the office will be a strange adjustment for everyone, particularly those going from quiet environments into busy open plan office.
Sound masking can also be used to create serene soundscapes to keep your employee’s wellbeing high and the productivity increased.
Biophilic soundscapes are a verified alternative to traditional sound masking. They reduce the impact of disruptive noise, improve speech privacy, and have even outperformed traditional masking sound in terms of productivity.
Lighting
Lighting affects our health. It affects our mood and circadian rhythms. Poor lighting is linked to glare, headaches, eyestrain, skin conditions and various types of sight loss. So what can building owners and occupants do about it?
Our bodies react to darkness by creating the hormone known as melatonin which regulates sleep. If there is not enough light, feelings of lethargy will be caused by an excess of the hormone, in turn, reducing productivity and the motivation to complete a work task on time and to a high standard.
Ideally, lighting in the workplace should encourage productivity in your workforce, and provide a balance of natural and artificial lighting for employees to concentrate to the best of their ability for extended periods of time.
Higher motivation increased productivity and an improved sense of wellbeing are just some of the documented effects of Human Centric Lighting.
Social Distancing Detection
There will be people who stick to the social distancing guidelines, and there will be those that don’. This could cause those who feel particularly anxious with returning to the office even more stressed.
Social distancing detection technology works with your cameras to ensure that everyone is keeping to the 2-meter social distancing guidelines the solution can send real time notifications when a room meets full capacity or when
If you’re interested in hearing about any of our solutions that can help with the return to the office you can take a read here, or, get in touch today to discuss any projects that you have coming up.
