Business Info - issue 141

businessinfomag.uk magazine 10 BULLETIN Wellbeing TIME TO PROMOTE THE 20-20-20 RULE Nine in 10 British businesses are failing to meet their legal responsibilities to protect employees’ eyesight, claims a new study from Eye Health UK and Vision Express Opticians. It reveals that although the Health and Safety Display Screen Equipment (DSE) regulations place a legal obligation on employers to make sure they care for the eye health of staff who regularly use a computer screen, 4 in 10 businesses have no eye care policy, 51% of businesses don’t provide regular sight tests and just 49% encourage staff to take breaks when carrying out intensive screen work. David Cartwright, chairman of the charity Eye Health UK, says that with 85% of office workers suffering symptoms of screen fatigue after a day in the office, such as headaches, eyestrain and problems with close and long-distance vision, employers must do more to publicise the 20-20-20 rule. “Taking regular breaks during prolonged screen use is vital to keep your eyes healthy. I’d urge all screen users to follow the 20- 20-20 rule – look away from the screen every 20 minutes and focus on an object 20 feet away for 20 seconds. It’s a really simple and effective way to minimise screen fatigue, yet our research shows only one in five screen users has heard of the 20-20-20 rule and even fewer practise it,” he said. To help employers and employees improve eye health, Vision Express and Eye Health UK are launching The Big Blink. www.visionmatters.org.uk/TheBigBlink. Sustainability ALTERNATIVE COMMUTE Airport workers at Gatwick are being offered a more sustainable commuting option in a new partnership between Gatwick Airport and low-cost bus service Zeelo. By targeting areas where Gatwick employees are currently poorly served by public transport, Gatwick Airport is hoping to increase the proportion of people travelling to work by sustainable means to 42% by 2020 and, in so doing, reduce congestion and carbon emissions. Currently, 61% of Gatwick employees drive to work. The first shuttle bus service will operate between West Crawley and Gatwick North and South terminals, with additional routes in the pipeline. Ticket prices start at 88p per ride, for which passengers can expect a guaranteed seat, access toWi-Fi and device charging points. www.zeelo.co HR PERSONALITY TRUMPS APPEARANCE A job applicant’s personality (77%) is almost as important a consideration for potential employers as their skills (80%) and experience (78%) and much more relevant than their education (13%) and appearance (12%), reveals a new study by CV-Library and TopCV. Their survey of 200 businesses shows the most valued character traits to be reliability (62%), confidence (61%), honesty (58%), a sense of honour (51%), loyalty (32%), friendliness (28%) and self-discipline (27%). The least attractive traits are arrogance (65%), dishonesty (62%), unreliability (60%) and being close- minded (26%). www.cv-library.co.uk Office Design NICE TO SEE YOU, TO SEE YOU NICE Next time you go for a job interview, pay close attention to the lighting in the room, as this may have a big bearing on how well you come across. A new study by researchers at Loughborough University shows that interviewees are more likely to be deemed friendly, trustworthy and competent if those asking the questions are happy with the room’s lighting. This has implications for recruitment, where personality is an important consideration (see story above), but also for performance appraisals and social interactions. Dr Olga Kombeiz, co-author of the study with Dr Erik Dietl, said: “In order to avoid unfair or biased judgements of job applicants, lighting conditions during a job interview should be the same across all applicants and/or decision-makers should be able to adjust the lighting conditions so that they are satisfied with them.” Light as a positive situational cue at work: Satisfaction with light relates to judgements of other’s warmth and competence can be found at https://tinyurl.com/y3j8kjck. Facilities Management UNBLOCKTOBER UP AND RUNNING This October, workplaces are being urged to help improve the condition of the UK’s sewers, watercourses and seas by taking part in Unblocktober. Organised by Lanes Group, the wastewater and drainage solutions specialist, and backed by the Environment Agency’s LoveWater initiative, Unblocktober is designed to make organisations think about what they put down their drains in an attempt to reduce pollution and blockages in the sewage system.Workplaces that take part must commit to put none of the following down their drains or toilets during October: n Cooking oil n Margarine n Butter n Lard n Cooking sauces and condiments n Food - even crumbs! n Anything containing plastic, including: • Wet wipes • Tampons, applicators and wrappers • Sanitary/ menstrual pads and towels • Nappies • Condoms • Cotton buds • Contact lenses • Bandages and plasters • Razor blades • Dental floss unblocktober.org Digital Signage PANTONE FIDELITY Businesses no longer need worry about the fidelity of brand colours on their digital signage, following the launch by Benq of the world’s first digital signage display to be Pantone Validated. The mark gives reassurance that the 65in SL6502K display is able accurately to reproduce the full range of Pantone Matching System (PMS) colours. https://business-display.benq.eu www.pantone.com