Office Hazards

Bilbao, Spain — Promoting good musculoskeletal health among remote workers and their employers is the goal of a new fact sheet from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, also known as EU-OSHA.

Boston — Improved air quality in offices can boost worker focus, response times and overall cognitive ability, researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health claim.

Barcelona, Spain — Exposure to printer toner, cleaning products and mold circulated in air conditioning systems – along with poor ventilation – can trigger asthma in office workers, results of a recent study out of England suggest.

Protecting employees from COVD-19 exposure requires creating a comprehensive plan – and then executing that plan and adjusting it when necessary.

Philadelphia — A vast majority of employees who are returning to the workplace after working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic say they plan to continue practicing elevated hygiene amid concerns over the cleanliness of their offices and being around colleagues again, according to the results of a recent survey commissioned by hygiene and health company Essity.

Lansing, MI — Michigan OSHA, along with the state’s Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, has published a 25-page guidance document intended to help employers safely return workers to office settings amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Morgantown, WV — Nanoparticles from printer toner emissions can cause “very significant” changes to workers’ genetic and metabolic profiles, results of a recent study led by a researcher from West Virginia University show.

Tokyo — Long-term exposure to powdered toner or toner-using machines has no significant impact on lung health, concludes a recent study of copier industry workers by researchers at Japan’s Showa University.

Chicago — Workers can get quite heated when it comes to office temperatures. In a recent Harris Poll survey of 1,012 full-time U.S. adult employees, conducted between April 4 and May 1, 46 percent of respondents said their office is either too hot or too cold.

Chicago — Spontaneous activity, such as moving your feet back and forth, while seated can burn more calories than using a standing workstation, according to the results of a recent study.