A couple of years ago I made a huge career change. I switched from a very physical, straight talking, working all hours of the day career which I loved to enter a new 9-5 office based career in a sector I knew little about. I went from being a self employed lighting technician working in theatres across the country, to working in book publishing. I went from running up and down ladders at 3am, programming lighting desks and rigging electrical equipment, to working regular hours in an office as I started a new life in book publishing. I adore books and this was the inspiration behind my new choice of career, but I really knew little about the actual publishing industry and even less about the realities of working in an office.
Working in an office environment was a real culture shock for me, I wasn’t aware of the complex social and professional etiquette working in an office entails, never mind the safety aspects. Working in a manual job meant you were alway aware of safety and looked out for yourself and each other as potential dangers were never too far away. I’ve witnessed some pretty bad accidents. Working in an office it’s really easy to get complacent, and before you know if you could have an injury much worse than a papercut.
Thankfully I soon picked up all the aspects of what my new job entailed, including adapting to office life. However my first office lacked natural light, which caused problems for myself and many of my colleagues. The rooms had no windows and strip lighting, a horrible combination leading to headaches and eyestrain, especially as I was often working in three computer screens at once. My eyesight deteriorated quickly in that job and I am sure this is no coincidence, thankfully my current office has large central windows, helping not just physically but mentally too!
If you work in an office make sure you are aware of what is around you and if there’s something you aren’t happy with, inform your managers. Most offices have departments set up to help with these issues and will find all kinds of equipment to make your time in the office as safe and comfortable as possible. Recently I’ve been thinking about how I could encourage myself focus at home when working on blog posts and I think setting up a home office could be a big step towards helping me do this. I will definitely make sure natural light it’s pretty high on my ‘must have’ list when I create it! Want to learn more about safety in the office? Check out this funky interactive graphic from Accident Advice Helpline.
How do you stay safe day to day?
*This post contains a sponsored link, all words and opinions are my own.
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