Sunday, April 30, 2006

Workplace Reform

1. "Sleeping could be the best idea you ever had"
   <http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1297824,00.html>
"For idlers, it may be the revelation they have been praying for: researchers
 called yesterday for beds to be installed in workplaces after a survey
 revealed that almost all of us come upon our best ideas when we are about to
 nod off"

2. "Even low-level office noise can increase health risks and lower task
    motivation for workers, Cornell researchers find"
   <http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Jan01/noisy.offices.ssl.html>
"Low-level noise in open-style offices seems to result in higher levels of
 stress and lower task motivation, according to a new study by a Cornell
 University environmental psychologist"

3. "Cluttered desks make workers ill"
   <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3571735.stm>
"Researchers at NEC-Mitsubishi say the nation's office workers are being
 hit by 'Irritable Desk Syndrome'. They say long working hours, cluttered
 desks and poor posture are making many people ill"

4. "Study links warm offices to fewer typing errors and higher productivity"
   <http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Oct04/temp.productivity.ssl.html>
"Chilly workers not only make more errors but cooler temperatures could
 increase a worker's hourly labor cost by 10 percent, estimates Alan Hedge,
 professor of design and environmental analysis and director of Cornell's
 Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory"

5. "Work illness hits half UK staff"
   <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4221923.stm>
"More than half of people believe they suffer ill health due to work, a
 study has found"

6. "Workers want bosses to 'get lost'"
   <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4166062.stm>
"Most workers reckon that their bosses are excessively bureaucratic,
 apportion blame wrongly and are inconsistent in decision making, a report
 has found... 'Management has to help employees perform, which in many
 cases means getting out of the way'"