We can help.

Book one of our HSE-approved First Aid training courses before the end of July and we’ll give you a 10% discount on prices that are already on average 20% cheaper than the country’s two leading providers – real savings that should allow you to maintain a full training programme even if your budget does get trimmed.

And you’ll lose nothing in terms of quality. Scores of satisfied customers have testified to the excellence of our courses.

It’s why many of Britain’s blue-chip companies – and hundreds of SMEs – now put their trust in MediRite to provide their essential First Aid training requirements.

We offer a full range of courses including the full three-day HSE First Aid at Work qualification, two-day requalification, one-day emergency First Aid, half-day refresher, evacuation chair training and automated external defibrillator (AED) training.

Join us at one of the many drop-in courses we hold in geographically convenient locations across the country or save further money – up to a whopping 50% - by arranging for us to do the training at your premises.

Either way, numbers on each course are strictly limited to guarantee that each delegate receives the very best personal attention from our team of highly qualified, professional trainers using both traditional hands-on practical methods and contemporary multi-media technologies.

For a full list of courses and further details, visit our website, call us on 0845 199 9991 or email support@medirite.co.uk.

Now we’re giving you the chance to save even more money on the EvacuRite. Order before the end of September and we’ll give you a further 25% discount, bringing the cost of the chair down to an amazing £597.

Our designers, renowned for their expertise in developing products to make the working environment safer and more comfortable, consulted fire industry experts to ensure the EvacuRite chair met rigorous standards for ease, comfort and safety of use in emergency situations.

Its features give equal recognition to the health and safety needs of the operator as well as the person needing to be transported down stairs.

We sell hundreds of evacuation chairs each year to businesses keen to ensure they fully meet the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. This puts the onus on organisations to take ‘reasonable steps’ to ensure that everyone on their premises, or nearby, can escape in an emergency.

The EvacuRite is suitable for virtually any environment where a smooth, controlled and fast means of downstairs evacuation is required. An easy-to-operate, rapid-deploy system means the chair can be ready for use within seconds of being removed from its supplied wall-mounted storage bracket. No lifting is required by the operator either in preparing the chair for use or in making the evacuation. An ultra-smooth glide track system ensures a safe and comfortable passage down stairs.

The EvacuRite is being marketed through our specialist First Aid and Occupational Health supplies and training division, MediRite, and comes with a full five year guarantee. Training in the use of evacuation chairs can also be provided by MediRite which is one of the country’s leading independent providers of HSE-approved First Aid courses.

Contact your local account manager for a demonstration, call us on 0845 199 9991 or email support@medirite.co.uk.

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.

We are already one of the UK’s leading providers of workplace health and safety and first aid training through our specialist WorkRite and MediRite divisions.

Now, by partnering with the Fire Training Academy, we are also able to offer our expanding roster of blue-chip corporate clients high quality, practical and realistic fire safety training.

Geoff Thompson, our national sales manager, said: “Whether you are a small company that requires basic extinguisher training or a large organisation with various levels of risks identified within the workplace, we can provide you with a comprehensive training package to ensure your company meets current health and safety legislation.”

Courses in the North East can be held at the Fire Training Academy’s purpose-built training facilities at Newcastle International Airport where a range of environmentally friendly, state-of-the-art, gas-powered fire simulators are available to provide realistic scenarios.

We will use the Academy’s network of highly skilled and experienced instructors, many of whom are Department of Transport and Civil Aviation Authority accredited, to run our other courses throughout the UK.

A nationwide programme of drop-in courses at geographically convenient locations will be announced shortly. Meanwhile companies can arrange for training to be carried out at their own premises on dates and at times to suit them – a facility that is always available to businesses.

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.”

Posturite supplied the chairs for the Number 1 and Electra-Glide meeting rooms at the Oxford Business Park premises. Number 1 is the company’s boardroom.

The Embody was launched last year and has already gathered a clutch of awards for its overall design and ergonomic excellence. The latest comes from the influential Das Buro magazine in Germany which recently named it the ergonomic chair of the year.

Harley-Davidson’s European facilities manager Ryan Holt chose the Embody both for its supreme comfort – it claims to be the first work chair to support both the body and the mind – and its stylish appearance.

It also brings together two great American brands – Harley-Davidson and Herman Miller – with worldwide reputations for the quality of their product design, engineering and performance.

This year we’ll run a record number of open courses across the country, and help hundreds of people to gain skills and qualifications as DSE assessors, first aiders, manual handling trainers and a whole lot more.

This is on top of the thousands who will be trained at their desks via WorkRite’s market-leading suite of e-learning and assessment software.

Open courses being run by our WorkRite training specialists in strategic locations across Britain over the next six months include:

● Manual Handling ‘Train the Trainer’ – a three-day course designed to provide delegates who have previously attended a moving and handling course with the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to develop and deliver effective moving and handling training within their own organisation.

Sept 14-16, Loughborough; Nov 2-4, Edinburgh

● DSE Assessor – a one-day course to give delegates an understanding of DSE regulations and assessment procedures together with the risk associated with the incorrect use of computers and examples of possible solutions.

Sept 9, London; Sept 16, Posturite HQ; Sept 21, Aberdeen; Sept 28, Leeds; Oct 12, London; Oct 20, Birmingham; Nov 9, Bristol; Nov 17, Newcastle; Nov 25, London; Dec 1, Edinburgh; Dec 7, Posturite HQ; Dec 14, London.

● DSE Assessor Advanced (A) / Refresher (R) – Separate one-day courses for DSE assessors wanting to refresh, update and/or increase their knowledge.

Sept 7, London (A); Sept 14, Posturite HQ, East Sussex (A); Sept 22, Aberdeen (A); Sept 23, Posturite HQ (R); Sept 28, Leeds (A); Sept 30, Leeds (R); Oct 7, Manchester (A); Oct 14, London (A); Oct 21, Birmingham (A); Nov 10, Bristol (A); Nov 11, Bristol (R); Nov 18, Newcastle (A); Nov 23, London (A); Dec 2, Edinburgh (A); Dec 3, Edinburgh (R); Dec 9, Posturite HQ (A); Dec 16, London (A).

● Ergonomics: the Office & Beyond – a two-day introduction to ergonomics, its origins, definitions and benefits; analysis of working postures; evaluation and use of equipment; and causes and implications of workplace stress.

Sept 8-9, Edinburgh; Dec 13-14, London.

● First Aid at Work – a three-day course designed to teach delegates a range of life saving skills. Upon successful completion of the course and independent assessment, delegates will be awarded an HSE-approved, nationally recognised First Aid at Work certificate, valid for three years.

July 26-28, Norwich; Aug 24-26, Newcastle; Sept 5-7, Edinburgh; Sept 14-16, Portsmouth; Sept 21-23, London – East; Sept 21-23, Cambridge; Sept 28-30, Oxford; Oct 5-7, Gatwick; Oct 5-7, Glasgow; Oct 12-14, Exeter; Oct 12-14, Leeds; Oct 19-21, Leicester; Oct 26-28, Aberdeen; Oct 26-28, London – West; Nov 2-4, Bristol; Nov 9-11, Sheffield; Nov 16-18, Coventry; Nov 23-25, London – Central; Nov/Dec 30-02, Cardiff; Dec 7-9, London – South West; Dec 7-9, Manchester; Dec 14-16, Bristol.

Dozens more courses for individual businesses will be organised either at their premises or at venues that we arrange for them.

In addition to the subjects listed above, courses include Office Health & Safety Awareness (1 hour); Principle & Practice of Risk Assessment (1 day); Fire Safety / Fire Warden Training (half day); HSE First Aid at Work Requalification (2 days); Manual Handling Principles & Practice (half day); Appointed Persons First Aid (1 day).

For further details, visit www.workrite.co.uk or call 0845 345 0010.

Our HSE-approved first aid courses have been developed and are run in conjunction with the team at MediRite, our specialist occupational health and first aid division. All the courses place the emphasis on interaction and practical skills.

As well as the First Aid at Work one, two and three-day courses, we also offer the following: Evacuation Chair Training (2 ½ hours); Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Training (1 day); Practical First Aid (full-day or half-day); Emergency First Aid for Children (1 day); Oxygen Therapy (3-4 hours); AED and Oxygen Therapy Combined Training (1 day).

For more information visit www.medirite.co.uk or call 0845 199 9991.

Even before the Penguin went on show it, was being heralded as a major breakthrough in the battle to beat health problems created when computer users spend too much time handling a conventional mouse.

Posturite chief executive Ian Fletcher-Price explained: “The Penguin sets new standards of protection against conditions such as repetitive strain injury (RSI) or carpel tunnel syndrome (CTS). It virtually eliminates the need for wrist axis rotation, dramatically reducing stress to the carpal tunnel nerve and muscle strain in the forearm.”

The Penguin is the result of more than 18 months development work carried out in conjunction with the University of Brighton’s Product Development Centre in Hastings.

Its revolutionary ergonomic design was initiated by members of Posturite’s senior management team who were each presented with a lump of clay and challenged by Ian Fletcher-Price to fashion the perfect mouse.

What they came up with was far from the finished article, but there were enough good ideas for Ian to take to the University of Brighton’s Innovation Centre where the product development team and Posturite’s own ergonomic experts gradually refined the design.

The end result is a product that Ian believes will quickly become the market leader. “Once people have picked up a Penguin, they won’t want to use any other mouse,” he said.

The real beauty of the Penguin is its sheer simplicity. The symmetrical base allows the user to rest their left or right hand comfortably alongside the vertical structure and encourages the use of the bigger muscles in the fore and upper arm to manoeuvre the mouse.

A ‘bow-tie’ switch at the front, which intuitively changes the direction of the scroll wheel, enables an easy transfer from right to left handed use. Regular switching of hands throughout the working day helps prevent a build-up of static muscle strain (SMS).

To find out more about the Penguin, visit http://www.posturite.co.uk/penguin or call 0845 345 0010.

The Sonocent Audio Notetaker is a new and unique software package that helps you navigate, annotate and organise your digital voice recordings.

It provides you with a visual representation of your recordings, enabling you to navigate and edit them with a few simple keystrokes while also being able to add text and images.

Use it to help you develop content for coursework; for revision; to transcribe recordings; to keep a record of important meetings; or to compile reports.

Audio Notetaker is of particular benefit to people with dyslexia and those who find it difficult to make notes or review recordings. Edit and export your recording to your portable audio device or notes to Microsoft Word in a few simple steps.

For a limited period, our assistive technology division is offering the Audio Notetaker and the versatile Olympus VN-5500PC digital audio recorder at a special package price of £99.99 – a 15% saving on the normal £116.74 (both prices ex-VAT).

To order, visit the assistive technology section on our website, call 0845 345 0010 or email support@posturite.co.uk

Roll-out of the fully-managed service begins in QBE’s Manchester office and goes on to take in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Chelmsford, Glasgow, Leeds, Norwich and Stafford.

WorkRite will control the whole assessment programme and carry out evaluations of any issues raised as people work their way through WorkRite’s market-leading AssessRite e-learning and assessment program.

Ryan Church, WorkRite national sales manager, said: “We are delighted to be able to add QBE to our ever-growing list of blue-chip clients, and look forward to working with them to help protect the health and comfort of their office-based staff.”

Find out more about WorkRite’s market-leading consultancy, training and software services at www.workrite.co.uk

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.

David, who is also national sales manager of our MediRite first aid and medical supplies division, sprang into action when he spotted a man who was assumed to have fallen asleep in the reception area of the Cardiff garage where his car was being serviced.

He asked the man if he was ok and got no response. When he was unable to wake him or find a pulse, David realised he was having a heart attack.

Along with a garage receptionist, he carried out cardio-pulmonary resuscitation that kept the man alive for the 10 minutes it took for the paramedics to arrive. Further CPR and treatment with a defibrillator meant that he was breathing when he was rushed to hospital.

David has since visited the man in hospital where he underwent an operation to have a pacemaker visited. It is expected he’ll make a full recovery.

He said: “I’m really glad that I arrived at the garage when I did. The staff there thought the guy had just fallen asleep while waiting for his car, but I quickly realised that that wasn’t the case.

“My first aid training really came into its own. The outcome might have been entirely different if I hadn’t been on the scene. It just goes to show the importance of having people with the right training and the right equipment available to use in emergency situations.

“This particular garage didn’t have a defibrillator on the premises. Fortunately we were able to keep the man alive with manual CPR, but a defib would have been better. I guess the garage might decide to get one now.”

In a voicemail message left on David’s phone, the man’s son said: “The consultant has told my dad that he is a lucky, lucky man, but we know that's down to you. We are very grateful for all that you have done – you truly have saved a life. Thank you so much."

Posturite CEO Ian Fletcher-Price said: “David did a fantastic job. He kept calm in a real life or death crisis situation, and relied on the regular training he has had with our MediRite and WorkRite divisions.

“Hero is a much over-used word these days, but I wouldn’t mind betting that the man whose life he helped to save will regard David as such.”

He added: “Situations like this demonstrate the absolute necessity for companies to make sure they have qualified first aiders and the right equipment available to cope in emergency situations.

“For every minute that passes, the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest reduce by 14 per cent. Research shows that applying a controlled shock within five minutes of collapse provides the best possible outcome and would help improve out-of-hospital survival rates which, according to some sources, currently run at a lowly 6.8 per cent.

“Our MediRite division is one of the country’s leading providers of HSE-approved first aid training courses and automated external defibrillators (AEDs). You can find out more at www.medirite.co.uk” 

I’ve banged on for years about the health dangers associated with long periods of sitting. Now I’m getting heavyweight support from across the world.

• In Sweden, Elin Ekblom-Bak of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences has called on ‘authorities’ to rethink how they define physical activity in order to highlight the dangers of sitting.
• In Canada, a study that tracked more than 17,000 people for a dozen years found that those who sat more had a higher death risk, whether or not they exercised.
• And in Australia, a six-year study of 8,800 people found that the risk of death from heart disease increased by one-fifth for each hour spent sitting.

All came to the conclusion that we reached long ago and have preached ever since – that regular movement is vital if people who spend much of their time seated are to avoid health problems.

And here I’m not just talking about the possibility of developing a musculoskeletal condition. According to the studies, too much sitting – whether at a desk, in a car or on a sofa – can put you at an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, various cancers…and early death!

That remains the case even if you regularly visit the gym or go jogging according to Elin Ekblom-Bak. Writing in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, she says that long periods of time spent sitting at a desk can still be harmful even for people who exercise regularly. She explains that after four hours of sitting, the body starts to send harmful signals and the genes that regulate the amount of glucose and fat in the body start to shut down.

So what’s the answer?

"People should keep exercising because that has a lot of benefits," Ms Ekblom-Bak says. "But when they're in the office, they should try to interrupt sitting as often as possible. Don't just send your colleague an email. Walk over and talk to him. Standing up."

All very good and sound advice. But she might also have mentioned that a good ergonomic workstation – a multi-adjustable chair that can adapt to the movements of your body and a sit-stand desk that allows you to move from sitting to standing without interrupting your work – will also help prevent many of the musculoskeletal problems which, while not life-threatening, can be incredibly debilitating.

They are also responsible for a major chunk of the £13.2bn a year that Bupa estimates the UK economy loses each year due to sickness absence.

So it’s sad, and economically inefficient, that another recent survey, this time by insurers Premierline Direct, found that only 26% of small and medium sized businesses bothered to ensure that they provided their employees with a ‘comfortable’ workstation.

Amazingly another 61% admitted that they didn’t have a formal health and safety policy in place. Even if they had, 78% said they hadn’t updated it in the last year.

Such a cavalier attitude to the health and wellbeing of their staff could also explain why so many employees have little guilt about throwing a ‘sickie’.

According to a survey carried out by website MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, just 46% of sick days are legitimate – in other words, the person is absent because they believed they couldn’t physically perform their work duties.

That means that false sick days could be costing the UK economy £7.1bn a year.

Perhaps if companies showed a little more care for and interest in their staff – like making sure their workstation is ‘comfortable’ – people would feel less inclined to bunk off work.

As it is, the new sickness absence rules that came into effect in April will help all companies – the good and the bad – tighten up on the amount of time and money they lose to malingerers.

From 6 April, sick notes were scrapped to be replaced by ‘fit notes’ which place the focus on what staff can do rather than what they can’t.

The emphasis is now on ‘making simple, practical adjustments to help people back to work at an earlier stage’ – which in most cases, ‘can be achieved at no or low cost to the employer.’

For years we’ve had service level agreements with scores of Britain’s blue chip companies to enable them to help staff incapacitated by musculoskeletal problems to return to work by providing them with the necessary ergonomic furniture and equipment.

With the introduction of the ‘fit note’ scheme, perhaps more SMEs will now see the economic sense in following suit.

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.”

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.