FLOORING DOWN TO THE WIRE
Despite the continuous move towards wireless technologies, trailing cables are still a common site in our offices. Paul Ruddick, Managing Director of D-Line Ltd, outlines how to keep your office looking trim.
So much for the ‘wireless age’. The average small UK office contains more than 20m of cable from electrical equipment, per person – but you can make your floor take the strain of dealing with the extra wiring. Based upon measurements in offices ranging from two to 14 regular occupants, our research shows that the ‘wireless’ moniker is a myth and that safety and aesthetics issues relating to cables are as important as ever.
The research looked at wiring and cables from a broad range of in-situ products, such as PCs, telephones, printers, televisions, servers and card payment machines. The products using non-trunked cables also included technology often considered redundant, such as fax machines, and even, ironically, wireless routers.
Health and safety, as well as aesthetics, are vital aspects of office life, so cabling is an issue on a number of levels. On average, we found that for every regular occupant of an office, there was 21m of cabling – roughly the same length as a tennis court. Office life invariably depends upon technology, but the mess and safety hazards that come with it are as important to consider. A tidy office creates a good first impression to visitors, including clients, while the time that can be wasted untangling cords or cleaning around cables – which often create dust traps – can be put to much more valuable use on your business’ core activity.
D-Line was founded to manufacture contemporary cable covers, which are designed to give an aesthetic solution to wiring in the office, so it is natural that we have adapted that product for flooring.
Wooden flooring needs trim to make 44 | TOMORROW’S FM
it look neat and to cover expansion and contraction with changing temperatures, but we decided it should be made to work harder and to give it another function as well.
So, we combined it with our existing products to make a floor trim that opens and closes, allowing cabling to fit neatly inside, safely out of the way and out of sight. As new products are added or old ones removed, it opens up to allow the switching of cables.
What’s more, by providing accessories that help with cornering, it reduces the need for perfect measuring, cutting and mitring to go around corners. It’s all about reducing trip hazards and increasing, or reclaiming, floor space from this wire cluttered environment, so the floor trim is part of a suite of products, including Cable Tidy Units, which help achieve this goal. This suite includes a floor cover which allows cables to be trailed across the centre of floors without being a hazard. Again, this is easily wiped clean, avoiding the dust trap issue.
The Provision and use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 state: “(Employers) should ensure that risks created by the use of equipment, are eliminated where possible or controlled by taking appropriate ‘hardware’ measures, e.g. providing suitable guards, protection devices and personal protective equipment.”
This is increasingly important as the technical boffins go into innovation overload and continue to invent equipment which makes our lives easier. The price to pay for many of these aides is cabling, making the office manager’s responsibilities under these regulations an even bigger task. By thinking smarter and covering cables, the job is eradicated in one fell swoop.
www.d-line-it.co.uk
twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
