Sky Magazine journalist Claire Bloomfield discovered a knock-out solution when faced with the need to manage hours of recorded interviews with world heavyweight boxing champion David Haye.

Claire had interviewed ‘The Hayemaker’ several times over a five month period and needed to whittle down numerous lengthy audio recordings to write two double page spreads.

She decided to try out Sonocent’s Audio Notetaker - software specifically designed to help people organise and manage large volumes of audio material.

She said: “The solution has literally revolutionised the way I work. If you have conducted lots of different interviews in a short period of time, you end up with reams of audio that is not catalogued. It is then often a matter of trawling through it all, trying to extract the useful elements. This is incredibly time-consuming.”

The easy-to-use Sonocent software has a multitude of features that have helped Claire to quicken her working processes including a revolutionary 2-D audio view which allows her to manipulate audio as if it were text – jumping to any point and quickly editing her files. It works with recordings made via a digital recorder, laptop or PC.

Because the software can be loaded onto a laptop, it is particularly useful for journalists and people who spend much of their time travelling.

However, it is also a brilliantly useful tool for people with dyslexia who use audio recorders at work or in lectures instead of making written notes, enabling them to quickly navigate, annotate and organise their digital voice recordings.

It is available through our assistive technology division at £79.95 (+ VAT) for a single user licence. For more information visit www.posturite.co.uk or call 0845 345 0010.

The Bar Council has provided a glowing testimonial to the planning and work of Posturite’s Office Environments team that carried out a recent refit of two floors of its offices in High Holborn, London.

Office manager Samantha Forman, who commissioned the work after Office Environments won a three-way pitch, said: “I cannot speak highly enough of the way the contract was organised and executed.

“The whole team worked extremely hard to make sure they met our expectations both in terms of quality and price, and they absolutely exceeded themselves by managing to complete the work within very challenging timescales and without interrupting the work of a single employee.

“It was a triumph of planning and workmanship that speaks volumes for the skill and efficiency of all those involved.”

The contract called for the redesign of two office floors to create space for more people, additional meeting rooms and more effective live and archive storage systems. New carpeting was also laid to these and two other floors.

Office Environments carried out the physical work over two consecutive weekends, but the planning had taken place beforehand at a series of client meetings.

Wherever possible existing materials – doors, partitioning, glass, ceiling etc – were re-used to save money and help the environment. New products supplied and fitted included Railex mobile and static storage, mobile desking, Boss Design seating, Actiu tables, Desso carpet tiles and partitioning.

Julian Millar, national project manager for Office Environments, said: “It was a challenging schedule but one we were always confident of meeting.

“The logistics took quite a lot of planning because it was important that we didn’t disturb or interrupt anyone working there. I think we surprised a few of the senior managers in the building by getting everything done so that they could leave at 5.30pm on the Friday and return at 9am on the Monday able to carry on work as normal.”

Samantha Forman added: “We opted to go with Office Environments after they produced the best pitch and demonstrated their willingness to work with us to achieve all our goals in terms of cost, quality and effective outcome. It was plainly the right decision, and I certainly look forward to working with them again in the future.”

Following the introduction of a new computer system, a company experienced a large increase in the reporting of ULDs.

On assessment of the task, the environment and individual factors, the new software was deemed inadequate for its intended use.

To reduce the risk of ULDs, the following was implemented:

• Computer equipment, including furniture, was reviewed by the safety manager.


• Changes to workstation layout, including mouse and keyboard, to improve upper limb postures.


• software changed to reduce repetition


• Alterations to work patterns and shifts and rectification of other organisational factors such as poor quality control and deadline control.

Suggestions:
Identify ULD risk factors, undertake a pilot of any new software and encourage early reporting of symptoms to minimise damage.

For the full case study from the HSE website, click here: http://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/experience/computer.htm

Incorrect DSE setup is often the cause of work-related injuries. Take the following example from the HSE website:

Jane works in a busy call centre. Her work requires repetitive use of a mouse and keyboard and constant use of a display screen...

Who do the experts in occupational health use when equipping their own offices? Posturite, of course.

The company was called in to supply all the furniture and equipment for Premier Occupational Healthcare’s move to a new headquarters building in Folkestone.

As one of the UK’s leading providers of occupational health and wellbeing services, Premier recognised the importance of ensuring that its own premises met the highest standards of ergonomic efficiency.
So it turned to Posturite to plan the fitting out of its new high-spec building at Shearway Business Park.

Included in the contract was all the seating, desking and storage for the reception area, general office, boardroom and clinical rooms.

Security and safety are paramount to the City of London Police. The 880-strong force, backed up by 400 civilian support staff, are responsible for ensuring that the 6,000 residents who live in the ‘Square Mile’ and the 350,000 workers and tourists who pass through it daily, are able to do so without hindrance or fear.

So it followed that when the City’s police force were looking to refurbish the Wood Street offices of their scientific support unit, the safety and health of the 15 people based there was uppermost in their minds.