What key qualities of office furniture should never be sacrificed for savings?
Quality
Quality doesn’t have to mean expensive. The better the quality of the furniture, the longer it will last. Well-made commercial grade furniture that comes from a reputable manufacturer and with an extensive warranty will eliminate the need to replace furniture prematurely.
Quality furniture can also have a positive impact on the environment and user well-being. Most notably, products that have third-party certification can be trusted, such as Greenguard or ANSI/BIFMA e3 Level.
Safety
Managers should aways consider the data and electrical requirements of a work area and ensure that the furniture has proper channels built in to house power cables and data wires. As well as being unsightly, dangling wires can be a safety hazard.
In addition, lateral filing cabinet drawers should never allow more than one file drawer to open at the same time. This drawer locking feature helps prevent a filing cabinet from tipping over.
Comfort
Managers should give users the ability to customize their chairs for comfort. It has been proven that providing a chair with ergonomic features increases the productivity and well-being of users.
The following features all play a role in comfort:
- Seat height and tilt adjustment
- A height-adjustable back
- Ability to change the back angle
- Support for the lumbar area of the user’s back
- Width and height-adjustable arms
- A waterfall seat edge design.
Rick Galbraith is the vice-president of sales for The Global Group.
