Creating A Healthy Office Environment: Tips For Business Owners

Your employees will spend up to eight hours per day in your office environment. Ensuring that this environment is as healthy and beneficial to well-being as possible is therefore inherently beneficial both to individual members of staff, and to your company as a whole. Here are four tips that can help you to ensure that your office environment is as healthy as it can possibly be. 

1) Use a professional cleaning service 

When it comes to reducing the spread of viruses and ensuring the comfort of employees who are dealing with office allergies, the value of a good professional cleaning service cannot be underestimated. DIY maintenance cleaning does have its uses, but the scope of such endeavors will always be rather limited. Given that offices are high-traffic spaces that are used by a high volume of people every day, they will always require the deep cleaning and expert approach that only professionals are able to provide. 

2) Ensure good air quality 

We all know that pollution is a significant concern, but this concern tends to focus predominantly on the risks posed by outdoor air quality. However, indoor air quality can be just as problematic – and, given the fact that people spend more time indoors than outdoors (around 90% of people's time is now spent indoors), poor indoor air quality could be considered to be a more pressing concern in terms of health. You can improve indoor air quality by using an air purifier, ensuring that your office is well-ventilated, and that air filters and your HVAC system are well-maintained.

3) Add (real) plants to the space

Firstly, it’s important to note that adding indoor plants to your space can – along with the measures above – also improve air quality, so it is well worth adding a little greenery for that reason alone. However, there are additional benefits of office plants, particularly in regards to well-being: plants can minimise stress, reduce absenteeism, and even help to increase productivity, so including plenty of greenery throughout your office is definitely something you’ll want to explore. It’s usually best to opt for potted plants that have a reputation for flourishing in indoor spaces, such as spider plants, jade plants, and peace lilies. 

4) Create quiet spaces

Offices can be very noisy environments; around 60-65 decibels is not uncommon, and at this level, concentration becomes very difficult – and if employees cannot concentrate, they will naturally become frustrated, which in turn impacts their overall happiness at work significantly. Unfortunately, controlling noise levels in your general office area is challenging: conversations between collaborating colleagues need to take place, and office machinery cannot be easily silenced. As a result, the best choice is to ensure that some areas of your office are kept as quiet as possible; meeting rooms, for example, can be used as “quiet spaces” to which people can retreat if they need to focus on a task and escape the hubbub every once in awhile. 

In conclusion

The measures above should help to greatly improve your office space in the future.