Page 7 - Workplace Blog

Never Mind the Bollards

Posted on September 27, 2013

You may have heard the news story about the gentleman who, in order to brighten up his day, decided to climb inside a traffic bollard and then inevitably got stuck inside, resulting in the police being called to help pull the man out of the bollard. After this strange occurrence, we would like to take a closer look at bollards and discover that there is more to the humble bollard than meets the eye. Bollards of all shapes and sizes line our streets up and down the country and have become an overlooked feature of society and of the urban landscape. They are used to separate pathways, divide roads and as traffic calming measures in city centres. But a bollard is not chosen solely because of its purpose, there are many other considerations that concern the urban surroundings which determine why and where a bollard is used. Any street furniture, including bollards, bins and benches, has to be approved in correspondence to the heritage guidelines in place for a specific space. It is important...

When a Mirror isn't Just a Mirror

Posted on September 24, 2013

As well as using mirrors for practical and safety reasons, for example in shops as security to help deter shop lifters and on roads to help drivers check their blind spots, there are a variety of fun things you can do with just a humble mirror. 1. You can summon up evil spirits. There is a well-known children’s "game" of summoning the evil spirit of a woman called Mary by staring into the bathroom mirror and chanting “Bloody Mary” three times over. The folklore behind this game is supposed to come from Mary I, Queen of England who was given the nickname of Bloody Mary due to her persecution of Protestants during her reign. Ok, so, it isn’t as if we believe in ghost stories, but maybe think twice before summoning any evil entities. 2. With a mirror, you will be able to make yourself a new friend. Not just any friend, but a friend who agrees with your style, your image and all your opinions and someone who will be there for you wherever you go. They will never disagree with you and you...

Warehouse Organization Tips

Posted on September 19, 2013

Regardless of what type of business you operate, chances are you already have a warehouse or storage area where products are being housed, organized and prepared for their trip to buyers and clients. If you want to make the process more streamlined and effective, you should focus on every aspect of it for maximum efficiency and control. This means you must go through a number of possible solutions that boost your productivity toward that goal. The following tips are aimed toward giving you that edge: Upkeep You should check on your warehouse on a regular basis so you can review its operations. If you have kept it well-organized in the beginning, this may not always be the case with the changing standards that flow into new requirements. It would be a good idea to work with a checklist for your manager so you'll know what's happening. Prioritizing by Sellers You should place the higher volume items closer to your shipping area so they can be moved with ease. That way you'll be able to eliminate...

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. There are zero...

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, recycling, storage, security and warehousing issues. The blog...

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, press the hold button and see how long they hold the phone for. For best results, keep repeating this in the space on a few minutes. The tape and mouse This is simple, quick and an easy prank to carry out. Just simple...

List of Essential Office Stationery Supplies

Posted on August 14, 2013

The paperless office has been promised for decades. In reality, every business still runs on stationery. Signing invoices, annotating reports, organising files, sending letters: physical documents and the supplies that support them remain part of daily office life.

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 handling injuries that...

Office Pool Bike - Putting it to the Test

Posted on August 13, 2013

After winning a competition as a team in the workplace, we received our prize, a folding bike. The bike that we won was a Dahon Vybe City Bike/Urban Concept Bike. Since we are a 'green' company, we were pleased that we had won a pool bike for the office. No one in the office has ridden or used a folding bike before so we decided to put it to the test and see what was different about a folding bike. Well to start, this bike can fold up and be stored away in a smaller space than an ordinary bike can. This compact design can be folded down so you can store it in a cupboard, under the stairs or in the back of your car. The design allows the user to take it on a tram or bus folded up so they don't take up a lot of space. If you have never used a folding bike before, you may think that it isn't easy to fold or unfold. Folding bikes were made for those people who wanted to cycle to work as well as catch the bus or tram, so the bike had to be lightweight to allow the user to carry it easily and...

Using Chemicals at Work - Control Measures

Posted on August 01, 2013

You can find chemicals in most workplaces and are used in different ways. Factories, shops, laboratories, offices and farms are just some of the places you would find chemicals in some form. The chemicals we use in our workplace may include products you buy to use in your core business, maintaining equipment or in general cleaning equipment. The term chemical could also refer to hazardous substances you create as part of your work processes for example, dust created by cutting wood or stone. A user of chemicals could be: - a farmer - a hairdresser - a cleaner - a worker in a chemical plant - a technician in a laboratory - a pest control operator As an employer the law requires you to control the use of chemicals at work. You will need to assess the risks in your workplace, then implement and maintain effective control measures. What is COSHH for? COSHH stands for Control of Substances hazardous to health. The aim of COSHH is to prevent, or moderately control any exposure to the hazardous...

Pal-Disc Pallet Turntable

Posted on July 22, 2013

The Pal-Disc Pallet Turntable is a free-rotating turntable for loads of up to 2,000kg, and has a ramped edge for easy pallet truck loading. The turntable has a wide range of industrial uses including the automotive & engineering industries, animal feeds, grain silos, aggregates and general warehousing. Virtually Maintenance Free One of the most impressive aspects of the turntable is the fact that it is virtually maintenance free. It is suitable for use in 'harsh' environments where there might be high levels of dust and grime – such as the aggregates and animal feed industries. It has a brush strip on the inner age which can prevent some of the worse aspects of a dirty environment. Although the Pal-Disc Pallet Turntable is not specifically designed to be used outdoors, it can and is used by some businesses externally. The manufacturer would however recommend carefully monitoring it and ensuring it is kept well lubricated when used outdoors. It can also be used at cold temperatures in facilities...

The Risks of Construction Dust

Posted on July 19, 2013

Construction Dust Construction dust can cause serious damage to your health and some types of dust can eventually kill you. Regularly breathing in these harmful dusts over a long period of time can cause a life threatening disease on your lungs. The dangers of asbestos dust is well documented elsewhere (see Asbestos health and safety on the HSE website) so we are focusing here on other types of dust which have harmful side-effects. What is construction dust? Construction dust is generally used to describe different types of dusts that you may find on a construction site. There are three main types of construction dust: Silica dust – created when working on materials containing silica. Materials such as concrete, mortar and sandstone (also known as respirable crystalline silica or RCS) Wood dust – created when working on softwood, hardwood and wood-base products like MDF and plywood Lower toxicity dusts – created when working on materials containing little or no silica. The most common...