Been tearing your hair out in the futile search for that elusive bloody stapler or important document, which you know are contained somewhere within your disorganised office? Well, unfortunately, the drawbacks of a cluttered or haphazardly set up workspace aren’t limited to such trivial matters. When your office is disorganised, it can put yourself, your employees or any visitors in danger of suffering a nasty accident or injury. Make your office safer, today. Check out these five easy tips to find out how!

1. Keep floors clear

Make it a rule that nobody is allowed to store anything directly on the floor. Newspapers, magazines, papers and other clutter should be stowed in proper storage crates or filing cabinets. By hiring commercial cleaning services, you can reduce the risk of a workplace hazard occurring by ensuring your office is in adherence with health and safety standards, Handbags etc. should not be allowed to simply be dumped on the floor, where people can trip over them. Never store stuff in walkways. Cables and equipment leads should be tidily arranged so they can’t be tripped over.

2. More on avoiding falls

Falls, slips and trips are the most common of all office injuries. As well as keeping floors clear, there are some other easy changes you can make to best avoid them, such as not letting anyone in your office stand on an office chair in order to reach something; instead provide a (much safer) step ladder. If your floors are tiled or marble, consider carpeting, which is far more skid-resistant. This is particularly applicable in entranceways, where employees may be entering with wet shoes.

3. Think ergonomically

If you work from home, don’t even think about working while seated at a dining table chair. Every work environment should feature correct, ergonomic equipment, which must be set up correctly to best avoid repetitive strain injury, carpal tunnel syndrome and ergonomics-related injuries and strains. Desks, monitors, chairs, etc. should all be adjustable. When at your workstation, your feet should be flat on the floor, your seat adjusted so the top of our monitor is about three inches above eye level, your wrists should be supported by a wrist rest and your mouse pad must be within easy reach, close to your keyboard. If you’re finding some of your furniture isn’t supporting an ergonomic and healthy workstation, it might perhaps be advantageous to look at purchasing new office furniture from the likes of Office Monster or other office furniture sales specialists.

4. Protect your vision

Spending hours staring at a computer screen can cause eye strain. Vision problems are common amongst office workers. Avoid eyes that are constantly dry and irritated by ensuring your lighting is not too bright. Most offices have fluorescent lighting that is simply too strong. Try taking out some of the bulbs from overhead fixtures and utilising task lamps where extra lighting is required. Also, make sure workers aren’t spending too long staring at their computer screen. If they are, this could affect their eyesight and overall health, so make sure that all workers are taking regular breaks every now and then. Some might even want to wear blue light glasses to reduce eye strain and to make it easier to look at the computer screen. Blue light can be dangerous too, so offices should raise awareness for that.

5. Keep everything stored away

After falls, one of the most common office injuries occurs when someone is struck or caught by something. To avoid this, always ensure you and your employees shut filing cabinets after every use. When too many drawers are open, the whole cabinet is at risk of falling over. Desk drawers should similarly be kept closed at all times, as they can be bumped into or even cause someone to fall. Lastly, to avoid major injury caused by falling objects, always employ safe stacking procedures. This means storing the heaviest of objects close to the floor, and never over extending the load capacity of shelving or storage units.