Office Fit Out
We’ve previously highlighted ways in which companies can bring their office spaces up to date, but we thought it would be helpful to touch on ways to maintain safety when bringing construction work into your office.
Brief Employees Beforehand
Before any work begins it’s important to brief all the employees that it will affect. This will ensure they aren’t taken by surprise by the refurbishment, ultimately meaning fewer accidents. Issuing a company-wide message about the refurb in advance is the first thing you should do, outlining what will be happening and why. Keeping staff regularly updated about the progress of the works can also be beneficial, as can requesting regular feedback from employees to check the working environment is still relatively positive once the refurb is underway.
Maintain Good Housekeeping
Two of the most disrupting aspects of office refurbishments are noise and mess. But not only do they cause a nuisance to those working in the environment, they can also pose a safety risk.
Dust and mess can be hazardous for a number of reasons. First of all, if dust is travelling from the site of the refurb over to where people are working, there is a chance they could breathe in harmful particles. Additionally, if equipment is left out or work materials, they can pose a trip hazard.
Noise can be highly disruptive and if it reaches a certain volume can actually breach health and safety regulations.
Enclosing the works within a dust tight internal hoarding system such as Hoardfast is a really simple and cost-effective way to ensure no mess and dust travels to where office workers are. It also allows for a segregated area to be created to store essential work equipment and materials. Soundscreen Hoardfast also provides acoustic protection to minimise noise transfer. However, it’s still a good idea to keep some periods throughout the day as “noise free” to allow employees to get on with their work.
Maintain Clear Signage
A large part of maintaining good housekeeping is ensuring clear signage is displayed. This is essential for safety reasons and to keep people informed about what is happening, where they are allowed to go and what hazards to look out for. Signage should include out of bounds signs, fire exits, directional signs and safe route signs. This will help to minimise the risk of accidents occurring.
Graphics and signage can be applied to Hoardfast internal site hoarding, so the hoarding actually acts as an information board, as well as doing it’s job of protecting employees.
