Workplace Blog

Very Good Service at The Workplace Depot

Posted on September 17, 2013

The Workplace Depot is delighted to be featured on the Very Good Service website. The website specialises in recognising and reviewing companies that have won awards for their services and products in a variety of different categories from shopping to finance, helping people to locate the very best companies in the UK for what they are looking for. The Workplace Depot is featured as the winner of the 2013 Online Retail Award. By acknowledging this accolade and placing us amongst a variety of other companies and businesses on the website that also offer great services. Other brands included as a part of this website are John Lewis, Pets at Home and amazon.co.uk. The Workplace Depot is highlighted on their “small biz services” page as providing very good service as a small business. On this page The Workplace Depot is listed alongside other brands such as Sage and Vodafone Small Business. We hope this will increase our already high level of trust and credibility amo...

How to Keep Your Bike Safe

Posted on September 16, 2013

The population is becoming more environmentally friendly, and as a consequence, more and more people are now pedalling their way to work, school or about town. Many of our team members here at The Workplace Depot chose to cycle to work and the introduction of the endearingly dubbed “Boris Bikes” in London has brought to light how easy and practical cycling in the capital can be, and now 1/4 of all London traffic is made up of cyclists. Motorised traffic is the single largest source of air pollution in city areas and the amount of pollution caused by traffic and transport is increasing every year. Motor vehicles emit a variety of pollutants such as Hydrocarbons, Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Oxides , Ozone, Particulates , acidic compounds, and Carbon Dioxide, all of which are harmful to the environment. In order to combat this, or to at least limit the amount of greenhouse gases we produce, cycling from place to place instead of using a car is much less harmful to our atmosphere. The...

The Workplace Depot Wins Prestigious Online Retail Award

Posted on September 09, 2013

The Workplace Depot is delighted to have won the 2013 Online Retail Award in the 'Office and Workplace Supplies' category. The Online Retail Awards celebrates those websites that offer the very best online shopping experience and deliver excellent customer satisfaction. Richard Bloomfield, Website Editor for The Workplace Depot, who attended the awards ceremony commented, “This is an amazing achievement for a website which is less than 18 months old, especially when you consider the awards are open to online retailers of any size and anywhere in the world. This goes to show that if you put a lot of initial research into making it as easy as possible for customers to browse and buy, it can deliver a high standard e-commerce website.” As well as providing an outstanding online shopping experience for customers, The Workplace Depot has also developed an exceptionally informative blog covering industry topics like health & safety, rec...

Workshop Hazards and How to Avoid Them

Posted on September 06, 2013

Workshops are a dangerous place to work due to many health and safety hazards. These hazards can be avoided by putting aside some time to check over the area that employees are working in and provide some storage for tools, equipment and parts. Lets be honest, if a workshop was always tidy and shiny, customers would be a bit worried, but employees should be putting away tools and equipment as they go or once they have finished a job. In addition, nuts, bolts and other bits and bobs to build parts with need to be stored somewhere accessible and simple for employees to quickly grab and get back to the job. Screws, nails, staples, nuts and bolts are small items that need to be stored in small containers that are easy to get to without opening and closing lids. Open fronted stacker bins are ideal for workshops. They are grease and oil resistant and manufactured from wall fluted polypropylene. The light weight, open fronted stacking bins are easy to clean and resistant to most...

10 Pranks to Pull on Your Colleagues

Posted on September 05, 2013

If you fancy a laugh and giggle (which may be alien to some employees), here are some pranks to pull on your work colleagues. Of course, not everyone has time to pull off the ultimate prank but if you want a simple and quick prank to pull on someone, you've come to the right place. Keyboard key change This is an old one, but still very funny. For those keen typers that love to keep on typing, this is a great one. Switch around the ones you think would work best and let the victim do the work! Eternal hold If you feel like being annoying then putting a co worker on hold is the prank for you. This prank will work better in a big workplace where your victim cannot see you. Simply call a colleague and talk to them about something important. Then tell them to hold for a minute...

10 Most Unusual Jobs That Do Exist

Posted on August 30, 2013

Have you ever thought if those strange jobs actually do exist? Such as a Lego sculptor or a pet detective – or have you considered a career change to something a bit more exciting than working in an office? Here are 10 jobs you could apply for – and yes they do exist! Pet Food Tester Senior Food Technologist may sound an ideal job, especially if you love your food. However, before you click apply, you could be applying for a job as a pet food taster. Most brands we see sat on the shelves, are tested before they go on sale and apparently pets are unreliable because many just eat anything, or they are picky, so this is where humans come in. Professional Granny There is a website called grannyandi.co.uk that employees grannies as babysitters, helpers for new mums, housekeepers and maternity nurses. They have decades of experience behind them from looking after the...

Are You a Motivating Employer?

Posted on August 20, 2013

The best method of motivation to ensure a person achieves their potential and works hard is, quite simply, reward! While threatening words and punishment might see that the job is completed, words of encouragement and the promise of a well-deserved treat at the finish line will result in a job that has been fulfilled through use of passionate dedication and therefore has been done well. So what kind of employer are you? The type to keep you after hours and make you work through your lunch break to simply get the job done? Or the type to reward you with a Christmas hamper full of treats at the end of a year of hard work? Here are just a few reasons why the possibility of a reward can inspire some of the greatest work... Moral boost Nobody likes putting in the overtime to receive nothing in return, and overworked, exhausted employees can cause the atmosphere...

Dangerous Substances - Fire and Explosion

Posted on August 20, 2013

Explosive atmospheres can be caused by flammable gases, mists, vapours or combustible dusts. If there is enough of a substance that is mixed with the air, then all it needs is a source of ignition to cause an explosion. Each year, hundreds of people are injured at work by flammable substances accidentally catching fire or exploding. Companies and businesses who are involved with using or creating chemicals, vapours, liquids, gases, solids or dusts that can readily burn or explode is hazardous. The effects of an explosion or a fire in the workplace can have devastating affects upon the employees and employer including, lost of lives, injuries, damage to the property and environment. If the workplace deals with the use or creation of these dangerous substances correctly, most fires and explosions are preventable. Employers and management have the responsibility for workplaces or other non-domestic premises to which any member of the public has access to, to be safe...

How to Create A Better Office Environment

Posted on August 19, 2013

Creating a better office environment doesn’t necessarily mean that you should have an in-house gym or a designer interior. Ordering lunch or snacks for your employees and taking them on fun-trips is fine, as long as you are doing the basics right. How a person perceives the environment depends to a large extent upon his or her mental state. On the other hand, it is also a fact that improvements in surroundings do help people's productivity. As a manager, it is your job to nurture and build an office environment where everybody feels motivated and happy to work. Even the slightest disturbances at workplace can make people hold back their best efforts, which will affect the organisational performance. While your ultimate goal is to enhance and maintain productivity, there's no direct route to that destination. You have to take a number of small steps and take everybody along. In order to be successful with creating a better office environment, you need to work on two fronts s...

CE Marking - Road Traffic Signs

Posted on August 18, 2013

Under the Construction Products Regulations (CPR), from 1st July 2013 it is a legal requirement for any permanent fixed road traffic sign that is going to be sold to have the CE mark. This regulation has been in place for many years in other parts of Europe, but in the UK, a manufacturer has been able to self-certify. However, now they are legally obliged to comply with the requirements. Who will be affected? This will new regulation will affect the manufacturers, specifiers, buyers and distributors/re-sellers. For manufacturers to be able to apply the CE mark to its products they will have to go through an audit and testing process to show that they are compliant with Annex ZA of the applicable European standard BSEN 12899:2007. They also have to be accredited with a certificate from a notified body such as SGS or BSI. All components used to manufacture the product must have the CE mark including materials, sign faces and finished signs. Specifiers...

10 Essential Office Stationery Supplies

Posted on August 14, 2013

Ever since the evolution and introduction of technology into the office working environment, bosses and businesses have practically shouted from their corporate rooftops to espouse their ‘paperless office’ credentials. The reality is, of course, rather different. Anyone who works in an office knows it’s impossible to function without some kind of daily interaction without note pads, Post-Its and diaries. And even though your beloved Microsoft Office, Word and Outlook can perform a multitude of functions at the touch of button (or click of a mouse), there’s one thing they simply can’t do – and that’s replace those essential office supplies that have been the bedrock, indeed the life force, of the office world for decades. A PC might be able to do many things, but it can’t replace a ream of A4 paper. And with some of the basics of office stationery comes an extra dimension of something that’s a physical and tactile experience. Don’t tell me you haven’t opene...

Manual Handling - 6 FAQs

Posted on August 14, 2013

Manual handling relates to the moving of items either by lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling. Pulling something may not be the case when it comes to the injuries, you can cause an injury by lifting, carrying or pushing an item. These injuries can be a result of, the amount of times you lift or carry an item, the distance you are carrying it, the height you are picking the item up from or putting it down i.e ground level and above shoulder height. Any awkward positioning whilst carrying out these tasks such as twisting, bending and stretching may cause injury also. Manual handling injuries are the most common kind of injuries covering over a third of all workplace injuries. These injuries include Musculoskelatal Disorder (MSDs) such as upper and lower limb pain/disorders, joint and repetitive strain injuries. These injuries can occur almost anywhere in the workplace. Heavy manual labour, awkward postures and previous or existing injury can increase the risk. Manual...