Cooperation with ORGATEC: How healthy is your workplace?

In cooperation with the industry association Office and Working world eV (IBA), sponsor of the world's largest office furniture fair ORGATEC, we are giving away three ergonomic prizes that can improve your work. Do a little test and win a piece of ergonomic design.

How will our work environment look like tomorrow?

The leading international trade fair ORGATEC follows change in all its facets and rethinks work. In its thematic areas "Contract", "Mobile", "Space" and "Office" the fair presents the whole every two years Welt of work and provides impulses for the design of inspiring working environments - in the office, at home and on the road. ORGATEC, whose ideal sponsor is the Industrieverband Büro und Arbeitswelt eV (IBA), will take place this year from 25th to 29th October 2016 in Cologne.

The IBA represents the general, professional and economic interests of its 60 member companies, including manufacturers of office furniture, conference room facilities, bank facilities, etc. at national and international level.

Healthy behavior in the workplace is important

With this competition, Orgatec now wants healthy Behavior am Workplace support. Because if you exercise regularly, you live healthier, are more creative and productive - this applies not only in your free time, but also at work.

A good half of all employees and thus more than 20 million People works at least part of the time in an office. But it is precisely here that there is usually not enough movement. The German office worker spends most of his working time sitting down - with an average working time of 35 hours per week, this adds up to an average of 80.000 hours in his entire professional life.

This is how the sweepstakes

In this case, a well-equipped workplace can help to promote the movement. This support furniture for standing up and a meaningful placement of the individual furnishings. If you stand for three hours a day, you burn around 3,6 kg of fat per year.

How motion-friendly is your workplace? Take the test and win an attractive ergonomic prize by telling in the commentary how your test failed - also anonymously, the main thing is to write yours eMailAddress in the field provided. Among all commentators, the prizes below will be raffled and notified by the editors.

Submissions for the comments are the 30. September. We will write the winners, who will then tell us the full address so that the winnings can be sent directly from Orgatec.

The prices

And there is something to win:

3. Price: WINEA X. The creative design solution for a cozy ambience and acoustically effective privacy screen in the office. Manufacturer: WINI Büromöbel (www.wini.de)

2. Price: element.x. Storage space with two design awards. 385 mm x 385 mm x 385 mm on design casters. Manufacturer: mausereinrichtungssysteme (www.mauser-moebel.de)

1. Price: Stand-Up. Clamped diagonally against the buttocks, the one-legged chair becomes a dynamically flexible three-legged chair, revolving around the hips and letting your thoughts fly. Manufacturer: Wilkhahn (www.wilkhahn.de)

Test

1. Most workstations are equipped with a swivel chair. There are various types of swivel chairs. While working, you are sitting on a swivel chair with ...

• ... rigid seat and rigid backrest. ☐ 0 points
• ... movable backrest that tends to lean backwards when leaning back. ☐ 1 point
• ... movable seat and backrest (tilt mechanism), which tilt backwards as a whole when leaning back. ☐ 1 point
• ... synchronous mechanics, where the seat and backrest lean backwards when the seat is back-restrained - in a ratio that is adapted to the body. ☐ 3 points
• ... a dynamic 3D seat that combines the characteristics of the synchronous mechanism with a flexible seat or backrest that is flexible for lateral movements. ☐ 4 points

2. Do you have a way to work standing up?

• Yes, I have a height-adjustable sit-stand work table. ☐ 4 points
• Yes, with a separate standing table, the height of which is adjustable. ☐ 2 points
• Yes, I have a desk / table top or stand-up container. ☐ 1 points
• No, at my workplace or in the immediate vicinity, I have no possibility to work standing up. ☐ 0 points

3. How big is your workplace? (Please select all relevant information.)

• The worktop of my desk is (at least) 160 cm wide and 80 cm deep. ☐ 1 point
• The area of ​​the worktop is significantly larger than 160 cm by 80 cm. (There is an extra point for this) ☐ 1 point
• Under the desk there is ample freedom of movement for the legs. ☐ 1 point
• The total area of ​​the workplace and the distance to colleagues are sufficiently large. ☐ 1 point

4. Where is your printer?

• Right in the workplace, I just have to turn around and get the printed pages. ☐ 0 points
• Workplace close, at a distance between 2 and 10 meters. ☐ 3 points
• More than 10 meters from my own desk, but still on the same floor. ☐ 4 points
• On another floor. I have to run more than 50 meters, so try to go to the printer as rarely as possible. ☐ 1 point

5. If you want to discuss with colleagues spontaneously, which of the following options are available to you? (Multiple answers possible.)

• I have a high table or a table top right at my workplace where I can talk to my colleagues while standing. ☐ 1 point
• There is a meeting table away from my desk. ☐ 1 point
• There is lounge furniture that I can use for a brief meeting with colleagues. ☐ 1 Point There are ways to discuss your workplace with your colleagues. ☐ 1 point

Result

1. 16-20 points: Your workplace offers very good conditions for healthy work. These are good prerequisites for their creative performance and good work results. However, the working comfort and the possibility of movement can be further increased.
2. 11-15 points: Their working environment is already motivating people to move, but there is still room for improvement here. So get up and walk around the office more often - why not take a look at the colleague personally to discuss a topic?
3. 6-10 points: A healthy and efficient work is only conditionally possible at your workplace. To increase your movement, you should take the lunch break for a short walk. Also check what you or your employer can improve in your workplace. Already small measures, such as a few steps away from the printer, can help.
4. 0-5 points: Unfortunately, your workplace in the office is not particularly easy to move. Find out to what extent your workplace complies with the current statutory regulations - and change this accordingly.