Workplace Blog

The "Key" Solution to Your Problems...

Posted on October 30, 2013

How many times have you wandered around in an aimless attempt to search for a lost pair of car keys? You are sure you left them on the kitchen counter… Or were they in your bag? It’s something which is a commonplace situation in households up and down the UK; the mystery of missing keys. One must admit they are an easy item to misplace. One minute they are in your hand when you are locking your car or when you lock the front door of your house and then, before you know it, you have put them down somewhere or in something, but you can bet your bottom dollar that you won’t be able to remember where on earth they are. Have you ever been in the irritating situation where you have left the house in the morning and you have unknowingly picked up the wrong set of keys? Perhaps you’ve grabbed the keys for the garden shed instead of those for the front door – which proves to be a huge problem when you try to let yourself in later that day. Wouldn’t it be useful if there was a place...

Don't Slip up in the wet Weather

Posted on October 28, 2013

Over Sunday night and Monday morning the UK was subjected to one of the worst storms in decades. Wind speeds were recorded as reaching nearly 100 mph, causing falling trees and loss of power in some areas. The storm brought with it heavy downpours of rain throughout the country, which led to flooding in certain places. As a result of the treacherous weather, there have been a number of disruptions to travel and transport services up and down the country, making the commute to work during rush hour more difficult than normal. Nevertheless, workers made their way through the wind and rain to get to their jobs this morning. In weather conditions such as this, the risk of people slipping on wet floors and surfaces dramatically increases. When it rains and people are travelling to work from their homes, whether it’s on foot, in the car or on the bus, the surfaces they walk upon can get very slippery. ...

Why did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Posted on October 23, 2013

The world we live in today is one which is becoming more health and safety conscious and we have been described as a hi-viz society, as more and more people are donning hi-visibility clothing to stay safe at work, whilst out at night or with young children who are walking to school. The latest group of society to join the hi-viz trend is the feathered kind. Yes, that’s right. The chicken coop company Omlet have started selling a Health and Safety Gilet for chickens. This revelation in chicken technology comes from the increasing number of chickens in urban and suburban areas. More people are having chickens as domestic pets, which live in their back gardens near busy roads and streets. If chickens in these urban areas happen to escape out of gardens and under fences, t...

Cone but not Forgotten

Posted on October 17, 2013

This week saw the start of the annual Frieze Art Fair in London, where artists and art lovers from across the world come to witness and potentially purchase some of the artwork on show. The Frieze Art Fair takes places every October in Regent’s Park in London and is hosted by the two publishers of the Frieze contemporary art magazine. The fair is an exhibition of all sorts of contemporary art that attracts nearly 70,000 visitors each year. The main purpose of the event is to sell work to the people who come along, but it is becoming increasingly popular as an art exhibition with more and more people coming to simply spectate and view the works on display. One of the artists whose work was on show this year was Robert Pruitt. Pruitt is a visual artist from New York. His work at this year’s show was something which caught our MD’s attention. His art work was centred on traffic cones. Now, you might think “what’s interesting about traffic cones?” Well, Pruitt has personified...

Organisation Techniques to Assist the Chaotic

Posted on October 17, 2013

If you frequently feel a sense of despair when looking around your disorganised office, you are not alone. Chaotic offices are common, but they are very inefficient, increasing your stress and wasting your time searching for missing paperwork. It’s almost frightening how much paperwork can take over your life. But where should you start when you feel brave enough to start sorting it out? Clear your desk Keep your desk clear of things you aren’t working on at the moment. Fit enough drawers to cope with whatever you need to keep handy, and fit a filing unit beside, or underneath it. Position frequently used stationery where you can reach it from a sitting down position, and consider having a shelf fitted above the desk where you can place things that need to be done in the near future. Keep your stapler, pens, printer ink and other paraphernalia into a drawer, so they are not crowding your working space. Keep clutter minimal – items that are gathering dust have no place...

A "Bumper" Blog

Posted on October 10, 2013

We know the word bumper means something big, enormous, or extraordinarily large. Things are often sold in bumper packs, meaning you get more for your money. What about a bump on the head? Where does that come from? Where did the very clumsy Mr Bump get his name? In a very “countdown” style, here is an origins of words blog, looking at the fun and squidgy term: Bumper. The first use of the word bumper was in the mid seventeenth century as a description of a full glass. In approximately 1670, the term bumper was an adjective for a glass or goblet filled with wine or beer. If you had a full glass of wine or beer, you were likely to be wealthy and living comfortably at this time, possibly giving us the link to something bumper being excessive as we use it today. The use of bumper to denote a glass of beer or wine that was full to the brim is said to have developed into meaning a swelling of some sort in general. The commonly used phrase ...

Daylight Robbery - Would You Call 999 on These Bike Thieves?

Posted on October 09, 2013

With more and more statistics being released about the number of bike thefts in the UK and the awareness of bike thieves operating around the country growing, you would think by now that people know how important it is, when using a bike, to lock it up safely and securely. Well, that may not be the case as the number of bikes being stolen in the UK is still high, with 7800 bikes reported stolen in May this year. Cambridgeshire Police took it upon themselves to shock people into securing their bikes more effectively. There were 2100 bikes were stolen in Cambridge in the last year. In an attempt to encourage people to lock up their bikes, Cambridgeshire Police hosted a small stunt that was captured on the city’s CCTV. Four actors were sent into the busy centre of Cambridge and there they were captured on CCTV stealing four bikes. The video clip shows a number of b...

The Importance of a Health & Safety Audit

Posted on October 08, 2013

The health and safety needs of a small or large business can change over time and it is important that audits are carried out on a regular basis. This will ensure the continued welfare, health and safety of employees within an organisation, via the systematic appraisal of on-site procedures and processes. An audit will find specific areas in which improvements need to be made for the benefit of a business and its employees, and help companies to comply with legal duties and promote wellbeing. What is a health and safety audit? An audit is a methodical, independent and documented assessment of a business’ system and processes, in which it is measured against regulated criteria to make sure health and safety standards are being upheld. Organisations should have a management system in place to ensure safety processes continue to be maintained. What are the aims of an audit? Though businesses differ in size and the industries in which they operate – for exa...

DIY Fails

Posted on October 04, 2013

A member of our web team this week spotted this crazy contraption whilst out and about in Bingham. It might not be easy to tell what it is at first glance, but we believe it to be a home-made, DIY, make-shift retractable parking post. Hinged parking posts are very useful in situations where you need to control the passing of traffic or control the availability of specific parking spaces. They allow the owner to block or allow cars as necessary. If you wish to prohibit the access of unwanted vehicles, then you can do so by installing a parking post which will block the way. Similarly, pedestrians walking near the closed roadway have extra protection from motor vehicles when a parking post is in place. Being fitted with a hinge, the retractable parking post can be folded down flat and therefore allowing cars to pass freely. If you think you need a parking post, why not copy the idea of the example above and make your own by following these not so simple steps. 1. Dig...

Coolest Work Uniforms

Posted on October 01, 2013

What is it that makes a uniform look cool? Is it the image attached to or the person in that uniform? Or is it pure styling and colour? Uniforms look cool when they are well-designed, neatly-pressed, and worn by smart people. They project a better image of the organisation that's using them, and also obviate the necessity of having to choose a different outfit for work every day. Big businesses like airlines and restaurant chains usually get their uniforms designed from stylists. The type and style of the uniform depend upon the nature of work that they will be worn for. Sports uniforms can be flashy and allow free movement of the body. Medical or military uniforms can look more traditional with their specific colours. In order to look cool, a uniform just has to ... well, look cool! Here are some of the coolest uniforms ever worn. 1. Royal Air Force Pilot's Coverall ...

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. ...

The Emmys 2013

Posted on September 25, 2013

This weekend saw the ceremony of the 65th annual Primetime Emmy awards take place in Los Angeles. The award ceremony was full of the obligatory tears and thrills of acceptance speeches, some dodgy red carpet fashions and the trying-to-look-pleased faces of the losing nominees making a classic American award ceremony. The Emmys started out as a regional ceremony that commended works of television from just the Los Angeles area. In 1950, the awards went nation-wide and were broadcast to television networks all over the USA. The award itself is a golden figure of a winged woman, and after much deliberation the statuette was given the name “Emmy”. There were a number of famous names amongst this year’s winners. The American crime drama Breaking Bad picked up the award for best drama series, and actress Anna Gunn was awarded best supporting actress for her role in the series. The honour of receiving best actor went to Jeff Daniels for his role as TV anchor Will McAvoy in the p...