Sky boss Jeremy Darroch is obviously a man who believes in standing up for a healthy workplace.

When Daily Mail writer Lucy Fardon visited him at his Isleworth office, she was surprised to find him standing at his desk.

She even mentioned it in her lengthy profile. In her introduction, she wrote: “Jeremy Darroch is standing up straight, tapping into his computer while overlooking a dreary business park…. As befits a media executive, an open-necked Darroch uses a waist-height ergonomic desk with no chair to conduct his business.”

The article also quoted the BskyB chief executive, a keep-fit fan, as saying: 'It is much easier having a difficult conversation when you are standing up.'

But that is only one of many benefits that can be enjoyed by users of height-adjustable desks like Jeremy’s that allow people to change regularly between sitting and standing without interrupting their work.

This has the effect of:

• Improving blood circulation
• Boosting concentration
• Providing essential relief from a static posture
• Offering the flexibility to adjust the working position to suit the task in hand
• Increasing alertness and productivity

If you want to join the growing band of executives who are deciding to stand up for a healthier lifestyle, visit our website or call us on 0845 345 0010.

Posturite has been awarded coveted Investor in People status, joining an exclusive group of UK employers eligible to use and display the sought-after Investor in People logo and plaque.

The award is a huge feather in the cap for our 100-plus employees across the country, many of whom were interviewed by the Investor in People assessor when he spent several days with us late last year.

The comments we received in his post-assessment report were not only favourable, they were positively glowing! Here are just a few of them.

• "The organisation's strategic framework, including its vision, principles, purpose and mission, is at the heart of the organisation’s approach to planning."
• "Social responsibility is embedded within the culture of the organisation."
• "The organisation is clearly committed to the ongoing development of people."
• "The organisation has a clear strategy to deal with the management of succession and the assessor was fortunate to speak to a number of interviewees who had been grown from within."
• "All interviewees were clearly committed to the success of the organisation."
• "People discussed the pride and satisfaction they get from the knowledge that the work they do is directly impacting on people 'with needs'."

At the end of the lengthy report, the examining panel expressed their delight with the outcome. They wrote: "It is great to read of a strong, collaborative team, united and working with senior leaders to achieve clear goals and objectives in a supportive environment. Clearly a company to be proud of and one in which everyone wants to contribute to its success."

Posturite chief executive Ian Fletcher-Price commented: “We could barely have wished for a better outcome from the assessor’s visit.

“We do our best to make our people feel wanted and valued and to offer them personal and career opportunities, but we can never be sure we’re getting it right. Having an independent person scrutinising all our practices and procedures and then giving us a ringing endorsement is very satisfying.”

Britain’s sick note culture has received a heavy dose of medicine from the government.

They’ve prescribed a new course of treatment for one of the big ills of British business – the amount of sick leave that employees take each year.

It came into force on 6 April and means that in future doctors will be able to advise on the sort of tasks employees should be able to perform rather than simply issuing them with a note declaring them too ill to do any work.

The hope is that the new system – known as ‘fit notes’ – will stop long-term sick leave absences and make sure that employers do not lose the skills and expertise of key staff members for any longer than is absolutely necessary

As part of this, doctors will have the option to advise on changes that could be made, with the employer’s agreement, to help facilitiate a return to work.

This could be great news for the tens of thousands of people incapacitated each year by work-related musculoskeletal problems – one of the biggest causes of workplace absences.

We already have service level agreements in place with dozens of Britain’s blue-chip businesses which allow us to try to find solutions for desk-based employees suffering back pain or upper limb disorders.

Often this involves little more than a minor change to the person’s workstation set-up. But it invariably means that people are able to continue to work where previously they had been prevented from doing so.

Now this facility could be extended to thousands of small and medium-sized businesses if GPs make the necessary recommendations in their fit notes. But that could be a big if.

As Katja Hall, director of employment policy at the CBI, said: “For the policy to really work, GPs must continue to improve their understanding of workplace health issues."

If they do, the benefits to both employers and employees could be huge.

A six-strong crew from Posturite won this year’s EMC Sailing Challenge in the Solent. The company’s boat crossed the line ahead of Sevenoaks housebuilders Constant Green in the annual event organised and sponsored by EMC Management Consultants.

Ten identical boats took part in the race. Other companies represented were Indigo Design & Build, Carpenter Box, RDF, MGM Developers, Eastbourne Car Auctions, Denaploy, Healys Solicitors, Expand Recruitment and Leapfrogg.

I came across this the over day and thought it deserved mention.

Although we “in the industry” get terribly excited about our products, it’s always nice to see other online communities to get enthusiastic too! Jason Jarrett appears to have developed a small following around his RH Logic 4 Exclusive.

http://12seconds.tv/channel/jasonjarrett/18085

http://12seconds.tv/channel/jasonjarrett/18150

We have just published the new Posturite catalogue for 2009/10. You can download a copy from our website or a request a hard copy.

Here you’ll find all the world-leading, innovative products – chairs, desks and workstation accessories – that have helped to establish Posturite as the nation’s leading provider of ergonomic solutions for the workplace. Since 1991 our Curative Sales division has been creating healthier and more productive environments for Britain’s office and home workers, giving us a hugely dominant share of the UK market.

These days, though, Posturite offers a whole lot more – a single source solution to your essential health, safety and First Aid services, training and equipment needs.

WorkRite provides multi-level e-learning, consultancy and training packages to help you meet the ever-increasing demands of health and safety legislation.

Posturite Office Environments delivers a range of services – from design and planning to full project management – to ensure you make the most of refurbished or new-build office space.

MediRite, our Occupational Health and First Aid supplies division, brings you all the products and training services you need to meet your First Aid, medical equipment and emergency care obligations.

Assistive Technology Solutions, our recently formed partnership with iansyst Ltd, gives you access to an extensive portfolio of products and services for those with disabilities such as visual impairment and dyslexia.

Posturite is unique in our sector in offering customers a truly local service through our nationwide network of strategically-located Account Managers and Client Support Executives, each of whom is a fully-qualified DSE assessor. You’ll find their contact details listed on the back cover of the catalogue. Please give any of your local team a call if you need advice or would like to have an on-site demonstration of any of our products.

I would also like to point you in the direction of our website – www.posturite.co.uk – where you can find additional help and information, shop online and keep up to date with any new products and services.

We look forward to working with you over the coming months. Meanwhile, if you know of someone else who would like to receive a catalogue, or you need extra copies yourself, please call us on 0845 345 0010, email support@posturite.co.uk or request a catalogue online.

Yours sincerely

Ian Fletcher-Price
CEO, Posturite Ltd.

Team aim for an all-time high with cricket match on Everest.

Our South West regional manager David Kirtley is planning to boldly go where no man has gone before – at least, not when wearing cricket pads!

In April, he and 29 others will play an official cricket match at Gorak Shep, a sand-covered frozen lakebed 5,164 metres (17,000 feet) up Mount Everest. If they complete the Twenty20 ‘test’, they will set a new world altitude record for team sport.

Another study has been undertaken into the effects of excercise in the workplace.

Dr JC Coulson and colleagues, of the University of Bristol and Leeds Metropolitan University, carried out the research in three workplaces in the South of England.

Results of the focus group revealed both positive effects of exercise, such as better concentration and problem solving, as well as negative: some participants felt guilty about being away from their desks and perceived that colleagues judged them negatively for their absence.

To see the full study, including its methodology, full results and implications, please visit http://www.nhs.uk/news/2008/12December/Pages/Exercisingatwork.aspx

The HSE launched its new strategy on 3rd Dec. 2008 as set out below:

The strategy, which is resetting the direction for health and safety, sets out a number of goals to be achieved:

• HSE and Local Authorities (LA) will continue to work together to investigate work related incidents and secure justice
• Encouraging strong leadership and championing a common sense approach to health and safety
• Building competence of those charged with delivering health and safety in workplaces
• Promoting the benefits of worker involvement, whether the workplace is unionised or not
• Customising the support for small businesses to help them comply with their health and safety obligations
• Avoiding catastrophes in GB's high hazard industries; and
• Taking account of the wider issues that impact on health and safety and its delivery.

Headline health and safety statistics for 2007/08 are as follows:

• 229 workers were killed at work
• 2.1 million people were suffering from an illness they believed was caused or made worse by their current or past work
• 136,771 other injuries to employees were reported
• 299,000 reportable injuries occurred
• 34 million days were lost overall (1.4 days per worker), 28 million due to work-related ill health and 6 million due to workplace injury.

In 1974, the year the Health and Safety at Work etc Act was introduced, more than 600 people were killed each year at work. More health and safety statistics can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/index.htm

Our MD, Ian-Fletcher Price was announced the Sussex Business Person of the Year on 20 November 2008 at the Sussex Business Awards 2008/09.

The award ceremony was held at the Copthorne Effingham Park Hotel, Gatwick and marked the 20th anniversary of the ceremony.

Posturite are very proud to achieve this award as it marks our continued hard work and team play with some deserved recognition.

Congratulations to ian and to all at Posturite, as well as the winners of the various other awards on the night.

See here for details of the event and those involved.

After a recent audit, Posturite have just been recertified for ISO 9001 and 14001.

For those of you who don't know what this means or want more info, read on...

A six-strong crew from Posturite won this year’s EMC Sailing Challenge in the Solent. The company’s boat crossed the line ahead of Sevenoaks housebuilders Constant Green in the annual event organised and sponsored by EMC Management Consultants.

Ten identical boats took part in the race. Other companies represented were Indigo Design & Build, Carpenter Box, RDF, MGM Developers, Eastbourne Car Auctions, Denaploy, Healys Solicitors, Expand Recruitment and Leapfrogg.

Well done to our crew!

Meetings, meetings, meetings…we probably all feel we spend far too much time in them. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot any of us can do about it. But being tired of meetings is a different problem to being tired at meetings. That’s something we can help to improve. A simple thing like selecting proper ergonomic meeting room chairs can make all the difference.

Posturite has been awarded ISO 14001 certification – the recognised international standard for environmental management. It is the cornerstone of the ISO 14000 series of environmental standards and the only one requiring certification by a third party.

CEO Ian Fletcher-Price said: “Although we are delighted to have this official recognition of our ‘green’ credentials, it really only confirms what we have been doing here for years. “We have long recognised the importance of sustainability in our manufacturing processes and Scandinavian producers like HAG and RH Form have been way ahead of the game in manufacturing chairs using recycled materials and recycling them again at their end of their life.

“The ISO 14001 seal confirms to our customers that we have the systems in place to meet internationally recognised environmental standards – something that many of them, quite rightly, will regard as important.”

Posturite has taken another giant step towards its eventual goal of having a paperless office with the introduction of a new electronic document management system at the company’s headquarters in Berwick, East Sussex. The new system will do away with the need to keep paper files and allow staff across the country to have instant access to the information stored in them. At the moment regional managers, account managers and customer support executives who spend most of their time on the road have to rely on admin staff at HQ to retrieve any account or other information they may need before visiting a client.

Jorgen Josefsson, MD of our leading chair supplier, RH, discusses the greener office.

The article, featured on the front page of the office furniture advisory service’s newsletter (issue 48, Spring 2008), covers ‘greenwashing’, the tendency of companies to paint their products with the environmentally friendly brush, so as to increase their credibility and, of course, sales.

Posturite’s long-standing demonstration dummy, Norm, has been through a lot over the past few years; used and abused to demonstrate good/bad ergonomic posture and the wide variety of products that Posturite offer, he has helped us humans reduce our time off work due to musculoskeletal injuries no end.

We like to think Posturite’s life story is an inspiring one and Sussex Business Times are happy to agree. The latest issue of the popular publication includes a section on healthy living at work, with the main feature detailing the rising success of Posturite since our MD, Ian Fletcher-Price, formed the company in 1991.

Read the full article here.

This is yet another example of our continuing appeal in the market and marks another great occasion for the company and the industry on the whole.

Posturite’s Occupational Health and First Aid division, MediRite, has unveiled its website to the world. The website includes a massive range of quality products, including First Aid kits and supplies, infection control kits, signs, medical essentials, defibrillators, gloves and a wide selection of First Aid training. Special web-only offers are also included on the site. All the most popular lines are warehoused at Posturite’s headquarters in East Sussex, who provide a 48-hour supply route to most UK companies.

As usual, you will receive the brilliant level of service you have come to expect from Posturite, including great offers, fast delivery and fantastic customer service.

Leading South East businessman Nik Askaroff has been appointed chairman of Posturite (UK) Ltd, international market leader in the design, manufacture and supply of ergonomic office solutions.

BACK pain accounts for the loss of almost 120 million working days each year in the UK. BT Today - Health; Posturite

You don't have to wear a hard hat and steel-capped boots to face health hazards at work... Read our article in the June 06 issue of building & facilities management (bfm)

click here

If so, your productivity will soar! Read our article in the Solutions4Industry.co.uk's recent magazine. Click Here.

New research has put the cost of work absense due to sickness at £12 Billion with the private sector accounting for 2 thirds of this total says industrialsafetytalk.com.

Having taken on a lot of customer comments, we've given the website a fresh new look. We hope you find it easier to use. Make sure you try the new chair selector. Click Here

We've just received delivery of the RH Logic 300. The smaller brother to the RH Logic 400 (The most ergonomic chair in the world). Features are nearly identical to the 400, but the back is smaller suiting a slightly smaller person. Click here to see further information.