Would you love to work from home feeling comfortable in the safety and security of your working space? These six tips will help.
Working from home has a lot of benefits, and plenty of unique challenges too. For example; you don’t have your boss actively creating the right workstation and working environment for you at home. So how do you make sure that it’s safe and healthy to work in? These tips will help you create a safer home office so you avoid common hazards:
1. Take Care To Protect Your Online Security
It is so important that you protect the safety of your online work when you work from home. A basic first step is including a lock on your home office door, as well as tidying cables to avoid wired being disconnected. Beyond that, you should be encrypting your online passwords and backing up your work on hard drives. You may wish to periodically back up your laptop contents onto a hard drive and place it into a secure self storage locker that is separate from your home.
2. Protect Yourself From Trip Hazards
Trip hazards are dangerous in a home office so it is important to keep the floors clear at all times. If you can ensure the flooring itself is secure and free from anything like files or pens which can cause a slip, you’ll be much safer when moving around the office. Wiring should also be tidied as it is a common trip hazard as well as a potential fire hazard when it is left out.
3. Make Sure Those Pot Plants Are Away From Electrics
Pot plants are a great addition to a home office, bringing clean air and a little bit of nature to your workspace. They can also be a safety hazard though so it is important to make sure that when you water them, the water doesn’t overflow from their dish or cache pot.
Some plants, like monstera, also go through a process called guttation which is essentially where they remove unwanted water from the soil out through special pores in their leaves and it appears as beautiful dew drops that can unfortunately then drop onto the floor or shelf. For that reason, if the plant is placed incorrectly the drops can then fall onto a plug socket or appliance. Putting the plant where any water leakage won’t affect electricity sources is a really great way to keep your home office safe.
4. Keep It Spacious
It is important not to overcrowd a home office, not only for the sake of the look and feel of the space, but for safety reasons too. An overcrowded space is more of a trip hazard, more of a fire hazard and it can even cause painful bumps through something as simple as a drawer being left open. If you can place some items into your cheap self storage unit and have the bare minimum in your home office, it will be easier to clean, navigate and keep safe.
5. Drink From A Closed Container
It is so easy to knock a cup of coffee over and start a fire in the office, which is why many offices require that you drink from a closed container like a water bottle with a built-in straw, or a reusable coffee cup with a lid. Try implementing this rule for your own office to help avoid any spills, stains and electrical fires through accidents with drinks.
6. Have An Evening Routine
When you finish work it is important to have a quick routine to make sure you leave everything as safe as possible. Try to make sure every time you finish work you:
- Clean up any untidy wires
- Put away any files or tech you have been using
- Turn every piece of equipment off that you can
- Check everything that needs to be left on, such as a computer tower, is safe
- Give the area a quick hoover
- Close the window
With These Six Tips You Can Enjoy A Safer Home Office
With the six tips above you can have a home office that is much more safe and secure. This helps you to be more productive, and maintain a really good level of health and security as you continue your working from home lifestyle.
