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Understanding Office Workstations

Buying office workstations isn't like buying furniture at an office supply store. For one thing, cubicles from leading manufacturers are built to last for decades. Dealers will work with you to design a system that's right for your needs and will stand behind their work.
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In addition, office workstations are more expensive than many people realize. We'll get into more detail in Pricing, but you can expect to pay around $1,500 per cubicle for high-quality used systems furniture - or $2,500 and up for new systems.

Do your homework
Before you start talking to cubicle suppliers, you'll need to prepare some basic information about your office and your employees.

First, you'll need to know the floor plan of the space you're looking to furnish. If you can get a scale drawing of your office, great; if not, you should measure the office yourself to get a rough idea of your available space for workstations. In most cases, you'll wind up working with a designer who will take more detailed measurements later, but knowing the general dimensions will greatly improve your initial conversations with potential office workstation suppliers.

Next, consider your employees. Obviously you need to know how many employees need office workstations. But go one step further: what do those employees do? Cubicles for a department of telemarketers are quite different from the right cubicles for a group of programmers. Talk to your employees about their needs: do they spend more time on the computer, on the phone, or doing paperwork? How important is it that they be able to easily converse with co-workers? Do they have small meetings in their cubes? These factors will influence the size, wall height, and surfaces of the workstations you choose.

There are office-wide considerations, as well. Copiers, printers, and any other shared resources need to be accessible without being a distraction to employees seated nearby.

Start early
Shopping for systems furniture isn't a quick process: if you're buying new or remanufactured systems, you can expect an average of three to six weeks between placing the order and delivery. If you choose office workstations a dealer has in stock, it can take a week; if you place your order at a busy time, it can take as long as 10 weeks or more.

Link: http://www.tradein.com/

How to Reuse Office Furniture and save lots of money!
Written by: Jon H. Driscoll

Recently, TradeIn.com purchased a large inventory of Knoll open office furniture from Santa Monica, CA. They then resold the inventory redesigning it to meet a Buyers requirement in Alpharetta, Georgia. The needed items were repackaged onto four trailers utilizing reusable packing materials and hauled via Southern Pacific Rail Road from California to Georgia. Where it was installed and put back to full use. However, after utilizing almost everything and working the design as best they could there remained approximately two hundred panels left over.

Not wanting to waste these panels by forgetting them in the back of the warehouse nor send them to a land fill the GreenTeam at Trade In set about finding a way to reuse them. TradeIn.Com’ s mission to green office furniture has remained consistent for over twenty years, they do everything possible to keep product out of landfills and put back to work.

The challenge of what to do with the problem panels actually turned out to be the basis for a great solution. The first part of the answer presented itself in the form of a client needing to squeeze a lot of people into a relativity small space. Getting them in the space was not the hard part what was, was to provide acoustical privacy. The solution to the panel dilemma and the acoustical challenge was one in the same.

TradeIn’s installers removed the fabric acoustical tiles from the metal panel frames and utilized them as acoustical wall treatments. The result was a very happy client who received an attractive wall treatment with outstanding acoustical control. Then they reused the wood trim from the panels as chair rails with the left over being donated for crafts use by a local special needs education association. Lastly the metal frames were purchased by a metal recycler.

The end result was the GreenTeam supplied an outstanding new facility of furniture for over 160 workers in Georgia, saving the buyer over one hundred and eighty thousand dollars; reused all the fabric acoustic tiles; reused the wood trim and recycled one hundred percent of the metal product. From the original fifty-two tons of office furniture not one pound was sent to the landfill.

Office Furniture Solutions is a division of TradeIn.com, Inc who is a national recycler of pre-owned office furniture, as well as an Eco conscious supplier of new and reused office furniture and equipment. Call today to allow them the opportunity to be of service to you – I suggest you both will be glad you did.

Call 800-248-7331 to discuss you requirements.

In recent years, workers, employers and regulators have come to recognize the importance of making offices ergonomic. An ergonomic office is essential to helping prevent injuries due to cumulative trauma from repetitive tasks such as typing.

Buying ergonomic furniture or other equipment and hiring consultants to teach your workers how to protect themselves against injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome can be expensive. But the costs of not making that investment are much higher -- and sometimes ruinous. Employers often must pay for medical treatment or workers´ compensation for employees injured by repetitive work. In extreme cases, workers with serious workplace-related cumulative trauma injuries have sued their employers under OSHA regulation 51(a), which requires employers to provide a safe environment for their employees.

The hidden costs of cumulative trauma injuries are even more damaging. Avoidable injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome and back strain cut into workers´ productivity, sometimes forcing employees to miss work or change careers altogether. In fact, experts estimate that the hidden costs of cumulative trauma injuries are two to seven times as great as the visible costs.

Before your employees complain of sore forearms or wrists or lower back pain, invest in making your office ergonomic. Think of it as an investment in your employees. The fact that you are willing to invest in their well being can also help build loyalty, boost morale and improve employee retention. And if that´s not incentive enough, consider this: OSHA has proposed standards to force employers to make their offices ergonomic.

With that in mind, try these five ways to improve the ergonomics of your office:

* Set up computer stations properly. Desks are made for writing, not for computing. Standard desk height is 30 inches; consultants recommend 27- or 28-inch work stations for people who spend at least half of their work time at a computer. The wrong keyboard height can lead to wrist, back, neck and shoulder strain. Monitors should be set up so that the top line of type is between eye level and 15 degrees below eye level. Proper positioning can prevent neck and back problems.

* Buy adjustable chairs. Make sure your chairs have adjustable height, rotating five-wheel bases, tiltable seats and adjustable back rests. Employees should familiarize themselves with their chairs´ features so they can position the chairs for maximum comfort. Knees, hips and elbows should be kept at right angles when sitting. If your employees share workstations or are frequently moving to different desks, encourage them to always adjust the height and backrest of whatever chair they are using that day.

* Keep muscles fresh by providing support and adjusting position. Proper support for sensitive body parts encourages blood flow, which carries oxygen to muscles and carts away waste. Consider buying forearm rests and wrist cushions to use while typing or footrests for employees whose feet don´t rest squarely on the floor. Tell everyone to adjust their position repeatedly throughout the day so that they don´t continually fight gravity with the same muscles.

* Set up desks so that workers can avoid repeating difficult tasks. For example, a worker shouldn´t have to make an awkward reach for a frequently used folder.

* If you or an employee experiences physical discomfort at work, act immediately. Even a small delay can turn a small problem into a major one. And don´t hesitate to call a consultant: A single appointment could prevent a serious injury.