by Anika D | Jun 3, 2022 | Business, General
Maintaining a productive and healthy workforce is the objective of any company. And one of the most important criteria to support these objectives is providing comfort. Therefore, you must optimize the ergonomics of your place for happy and healthy staff. So, here are the best tips for workplace ergonomics to support your staff.
5 Tips for Workplace Ergonomics to Support Your Staff
Let’s have a look at the tips:
1. An Ergonomic Chair
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Invest in chairs for your staff to ensure correct postures by reducing stress on any body part. An adjustable chair that supports spinal curves and neck region is highly recommendable. Also, your feet should rest on the floor, and your thighs must be parallel to the ground.
The leg, thigh, and back must look like a vertical line. In addition, the employees will experience less fatigue and fewer future health issues by getting adjustable, breathable, and supportive chairs. Surprisingly, $1 invested in ergonomics has a $3-$6 ROI for many companies. So, it has some proven benefits.
2. Consider Computer Ergonomics
Viewing computer screens is an essential part of any workplace. 65% of people experience eye strain after constantly viewing the screens. So, optimizing the ergonomics of computers must be your priority.
To improve computer ergonomics:
- Place your computer screen at eye level, which is different for every individual.
- Your viewing angle should ensure minimum turning of the neck up and down.
- The mouse and keyboard should be at the same height as the elbows and forearms (At the same levels)
- Place the mouse and keyboards at the center.
- Use proper keyboard trays.
3. The Desk With Right Height
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The future of workplace safety in 2022 and beyond includes the general well-being of the employees. So, it is very crucial to maintain an ergonomic environment. For example, the working table, which is standard height, may not suit everyone. So an adjustable table that corresponds to the elbow height is advisable.
So, to find the accurate height of the table;
- Rest your feet flat on the floor to create a vertical line.
- Place thighs parallel to the office floor.
- The vertical distance between your elbows and the floor while seated should be the target height of your desk. You can ask someone to measure it for you.
Also, look for a desk with enough thigh space. It can also have convertible sit and stand options because sitting for too long is not great.
4. Avoid Repetitive Motions
Even after applying the best ergonomics, you will welcome health problems if you’re doing repetitive tasks for 8 hours straight. So, take timely breaks and start working on standing tables, walking, etc. Constantly moving your hand and neck in the same position will lead to fatigue and future posture problems.
5. Last but not Least, Optimize Environment for Better Ergonomics
Maintaining perfect ergonomics is not only about tables, chairs, and screens. A sum of other factors contributes to attaining excellent ergonomics. This includes sufficient lighting, proper temperature, and other essentials.
Similarly, as you, perform risk assessments in the workplace you should also check the risk for injuries. The office setup should not have sharp edges, slippery floors, and other factors that can welcome injuries.
by Anika D | Apr 28, 2022 | Business, Emerging Technology
Technology has been transforming the auto industry over the last couple of years. New business plans, improved automation, and growth in new technologies are making significant changes in the automotive industry in 2022. In addition, remember to change consumer preferences and sustainability policies. So, what future technologies will come in handy in the auto industry? Let us see below.
What Are the Future Technologies in Automotive Industry?
Here are some future technology trends in the automotive industry:
Increased Manufacturing of Electric Cars
Automakers integrate modern car technology into their vehicles. Also, tech companies such as Tesla and Google are working on self-driving and electric automobiles. Therefore, it is clear that automobiles produced in 2022 will be full of technology addressing digital touchpoints. There is tough competition to create software and digital operating systems to control and power innovative electric vehicles.
Online Car Buying
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Technology boosts digitalization, resulting in consumers getting everything at their doorstep. The auto industry is also following this trend. The entire car buying process occurs digitally, from online paperwork completion and virtual test drives to delivering a vehicle at your doorstep.
Some auto dealerships follow a hybrid model. In this, you can manage some aspects like test drives and paperwork online, but you have to visit a showroom to collect the ordered vehicle.
Wireless Technology
The normal car has above 100 million codes and 30,000 parts. With advanced technology, these numbers have risen more. Particularly, modern car technology will use more data to navigate properly. In addition, 5G will take navigation to another level in 2022.
For instance, two smart cars on the road can exchange information, including traffic movement, weather patterns, road conditions, etc. In the coming time, you can exchange these things instantly with the help of 5G technology.
Autopilot Cars
Fully automated self-driven cars only exist in science fiction. But technology has made the commercial availability of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and semi-autonomous cars. However, ADAS in the market revealed some challenges for autonomous vehicles market penetration. Pricing, safety issues, consumer understanding, and insufficient regulatory base are among them.
Modern car technology trends like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and neural networks make the manufacturing of autonomous vehicles possible. They need no human intervention, even in complicated traffic situations. It leads to the growth of new application scenarios.
Automotive Cybersecurity
Technology has made automotive cybersecurity possible. It means digital systems protection inside the vehicle prevents thieves from gaining unauthorized access and taking control of the car. Advanced automobile cybersecurity will deter criminals from data-stealing, vehicle-manipulating, or causing physical damage.
Personalization
Personalization drives vehicle marketing and product customization for customers. For the automobile industry, product customization has a great potential to make the usage of cars safe and enjoyable.
For instance, advanced applications will collect or analyze data on driver’s behavior. It will also determine patterns like regular visits to cafes, gas stations, or grocery stores. Then, it will monitor the technical conditions of a vehicle and notify a driver if a particular part needs replacement.
Final Thoughts
The recent trends in the auto industry and consumer behavior changes will fasten the development of self-driven cars. Also, they will inspire companies to restrategize and bet on technologies for the coming future.
by Anika D | Apr 19, 2022 | Business, Emerging Technology
The time when females lived in shadows and did specific work is over! The women CEOs are ruling all sectors and witnessing a gradual rise in the tech field. There are so many successful tech companies with passionate owners who thrive to do their best. So, check out some inspiring five ruling tech companies run by women.
#1 Gina Bianchini: Mighty Networks
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Out of Fortune’s 500 big companies, 41 have female CEOs; this number is less but increasing significantly. Women are becoming more aware of their potential, and these success stories are true examples. Gina Bianchini is a role model for many people. Mighty Networks a social media platform that focuses on helping businesses create online courses.
Also, there are developed branded mobile apps and many other communities. For example, you can take paid courses and help companies set up online groups. It works on all platforms and has a great user interface.
#2 Sandy Lerner: Cisco
Sandy Lerner is a well-known name in the field of technology. She started this company by building routers in her living room in San Francisco. Sandy, a tech geek, is also an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She co-founded Cisco and named it after her homeland San Francisco.
Also, she used some of its profit to pursue interests in animal welfare and women’s writing. Moreover, the women have exceptional leadership qualities. Also, studies show that companies that increased female partners by 10% saw 9.7% more profitable returns. So, the ladies rule every segment to create a healthy environment in global companies.
#3 Milela Druckman: GreyParrot
Mileka Druckman is the brain behind innovative waste management technology. The company uses Artificial Intelligence to increase transparency and automation in waste management. With many women ruling AI, this one is a very different approach.
The CEO is very focused on using new technologies and making the best out of them to clean the planet Earth. This revolutionizing tech will solve the major issue of waste management effectively.
#4 Lynda: Lynda.com
Kynda is a self-taught web designer who changed the demographics of the internet. Often called the “mother of the internet,” she started writing web graphics in 1995. After that, the platform became one of the most popular places for audio, video, animation, home computing, and interactive designs.
#5 Kimberly Bryant: Black Girls Code
The recipient of many prestigious awards, Kimberly Bryant, took her talent forward to help many people. An American African electrical engineer is very talented and determined. So, she started an initiative to develop a non-profit company, “Black Girls Code.”
It provides young girls an awesome opportunity to learn programming and many technical skills. It deals with all the technology fields, whether software, hardware, or the skills you need to become a data scientist.
Wrapping up
There are even more stories about women CEOs ruling the world. Some of the Women globally are at their peak, budding stage, or aspiring to become one. Gender doesn’t have any role in determining your potential. So learn from their stories and find your inner zest to prove to yourself that you can achieve it too!
by Anika D | Feb 18, 2022 | Business, General
The risk assessment is a systematic process to identify, analyze and evaluate risks at the workplace and decide the control measures. The control measures make sure to remove or reduce the risks of loss, injury or damage in the workplace. Legally, it is necessary for all companies to perform risk assessments. If an organization has more than five employees, it is important to prepare a written record.
The organization’s ability to remove or control risks rely on its expertise to anticipate dangers. Risk assessment is a dynamic and proactive process that prepares organizations for any kind of danger in advance. If you are wondering how to complete the risk assessment process, go through the steps listed below:
Step 1: Recognize the Hazards
If you want to identify hazards, it would be best to understand the basic difference between risks and hazards. A hazard is a source of potential harm whereas a risk is a probability of a person getting harmed. You can identify hazards by using different techniques like inspecting the workplace or taking employee feedback.
Step 2: Identify the Harm with Hazards
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When you identify the potential hazards like heat hazards, chemical reactions and more, determine who will be affected the most. Also, determine the degree or kind of damage one will suffer. It helps you to set priorities and look for optimal solutions related to different risks.
Besides the extent of possible damages, make sure to take into account the vulnerability of employees in different workplaces. Moreover, do not forget to consider pregnant ladies and disabled people.
Step 3: Evaluate the Potential Risks and Decide the Control Measures
Once you gather the list of potential harms, examine how likely that danger will appear. Also, consider the seriousness of the consequences. These risk estimations will allow you to find where you should minimize the risk level and what are the potential dangers. It is better to create a risk assessment chart for smooth learning.
Step 4: Record All Findings and Implement Them
It would be best if you create a proper record of all the risk assessments. It can help the organization to maintain track of risks, hazards and effective control measures. Proper documentation means a detailed description of processes in risk assessment, detailed explanations on the conclusions, proper draft of evaluations.
You can use a risk assessment template to record your findings. Then, share the proper risk assessment report and key findings with the department who can implement the necessary changes.
Step 5: Review the Risk Assessment Report
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If there are any significant changes in the workplace, it is necessary to re-evaluate the risk assessment and update them. Sometimes employees notice a new issue, improvements, or any accidents that occurred after the implementation of changes. Moreover, all these factors must be updated and re-evaluated for designing proper control measures.
Conclusion
A risk assessment is important to create a safe workplace and prevent accidents. So, awareness of potential hazards is a must. It is a team responsibility that needs proper participation of upper management, employees, front-line management, and industrial hygienists.
By putting proper time and effort into these safety initiatives, you can make a good investment. Also, when employees are safe then only productivity can be improved.
by Anika D | Jan 31, 2022 | Business, Emerging Technology
Whether you’re starting your monumental project or a startup, the constant question is, do I need a website? So, the answer is yes. Over the years, consumer behavior has changed, and 81% of shoppers conduct online investigations before purchasing. If you still feel unconvinced, then keep reading to know the significance of a website in your startup. Let’s have a look.
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A website is More Credible
A well-put website shows your customer that you’re trustworthy. It becomes more vital for a startup as any customer will search you on Google after checking you on any other platforms.
Most customers drop the idea of engaging if the startup doesn’t have an official website. So, startups are involved in leading software development and engineering trends to create competitive and user-friendly websites.
Creates a Brand Name
A website creates a brand name with a unique logo, domain name, and virtual presence. It protects you against identity theft. Getting a notable name after an entire establishment is challenging and may involve many legal issues.
Boost you up in SEO Rankings
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Marketing and publicity are crucial for any startup, and you can up-level your search engine rankings with a website. A website that is SEO optimized is necessary for higher Google rankings and organic traffic.
It helps you reach your target and larger audience. Especially business storytelling through engaging UX design, quality content, font styles, descriptions will improve your sriracha engine rankings. This is the first towards creating a virtual space among so many competing websites.
Marketing
A 24*7 available websites are a sales platform for your startup. You can’t operate social media phone calls over time. But, a website is available around the clock. It has all the information a customer needs, with a safe payment gateway. So, designing a website with simple navigation and cyber resiliency is a great way to market your idea.
You can Have an Eye on Your Competition
A website is also vital for evaluating competitors. You can study the strategies of leading sites and what they offer. This makes your endeavor digitally updated and helps alter plans in any segment.
Cost-Effective Solution for Startup
This is the best solution for providing a platform for your startup. 63% of shopping begins online, so creating a website is like launching yourself digitally. The expense of creating pamphlets and hiring multiple teams is very extensive.
On the other hand, a simple, optimized, secure website is budget-friendly and does not require professional knowledge. Of Course, after reaching some goals, you can make it unbeatable with the help of professionals.
Let’s Wrap it
Now, you can answer the question, if I need a website? Ofcourse, it is vital for an official presence, trust, marketing, and staying up to date. But, apart from this, it’s easy to create and very affordable for a startup. So, make your endeavor digitally strong and stay updated with full proof, competitive and attractive websites.
by Anika D | Jan 24, 2022 | Business, Cybersecurity
Cyber security strategy is a noteworthy action plan for the organization to secure its assets in the coming years. However, with the emerging technology, cyber threats also change unpredictably. So, you definitely have to upgrade your strategy. It is purely guesswork about what you need to do.
The deliberate result of developing and executing a cybersecurity plan is that the assets are secure. Generally, it involves switching from a reactive to a proactive cyber security approach. There you focus on preventing the cyber threats rather than reacting against them. As a result, you will secure your organization network.
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Your organization can maintain its reputation and reduce threats to its employees by preventing trivial incidents from becoming crucial. However, creating cyber security for the business takes time and effort. But it also means distinguishing between beating your competitors and moving out of business in the future. Below are some basic steps to develop your cyber security strategy:
Step 1: Create an Effective Security Structure
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Determine What you Want to Protect
Understand the assets that your company needs to protect. Although you cannot shield everything fully, focus on what you definitely have to save first and what can happen in the absence of security. Review all business processes and understand how to generate revenue by the company and what systems can disrupt by being unavailable. Also, identify the critical data and IT assets like devices, applications, users, and servers for your business.
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Determine What you Need to Protect Legally
While security and compliance are not the same, most organizations depend on the CISO for maintaining security compliance frameworks. Non-compliance is expensive and threatening for your business. Ensure that you design the cyber security plan with compliance frameworks and plan legal requirements.
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Understand the Company’s Risk Appetite
Before creating a cyber security strategy, understand your organization’s risk assessments. Also, learn the amount of risk your organization can accept while pursuing strategic objectives. Risk appetites depend on the industry, the company’s financial strength, goals, and many more.
The cyber security plan for a startup won’t work for an established corporation. By learning the company’s risk appetite, ensure that you are not under-or-over protecting the business.
Step 2: Understand the Threat Landscape
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After learning what you have to protect, analyze and understand the threat landscape. Initially, understand the company’s environment for its operations. Know your potential customers, product or service you sell, disrupting the business benefits, etc. The questions help you learn about the general environment.
Also, learn about your competitors, threats they face, a security breach in the past, etc. The threats faced by competitors may also affect your business. Finally, learn about the type of threats you need to protect your business from and potential attackers. You can be well-prepared in defending the business by learning the answers to these questions.
Step 3: Create a Strategic Cyber Security Plan
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Pick a Framework, Identify Current State of the Security Environment, and Build a Timeline
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Select a framework such as ISO, CIS Controls, and NIST to build a cyber security plan. It is essential to pick a framework to track progress effectively while prioritizing the critical steps. For example, the CIS Controls gives you a set of prioritized actions to save your organization and take these actions. In addition, it enables you to track progress to know what you have to do.
Once you know what you need to protect from the risk management point of view, evaluate current security measure effectiveness. Decide on a timeline, depending on the current security state. Things will change with time, needing occasional changes in the timeline. However, it is necessary to set a target timeline to get to your organization’s best risk level.
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Evaluate Company’s Security Maturity Level
Evaluate the organization’s security maturity level using either outside consultants or in-house staff. Security maturity means a company’s adherence to security best processes and practices; measuring it allows you to identify areas for improvement.
Whether hiring a consultant or analyzing yourself, ensure that the process is repeatable. In this way, when you determine the security maturity in the coming years, you will have a benchmark for results comparison.
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Evaluate the Technology Stack
Look at your current technology and identify tools you don’t use to their full benefit. Underutilized tools cost you time, money, and increase the attack surface. Then, find out the proper solutions to fulfil their original purposes. In addition, you can use the Cyber Defense Matrix to find security gaps. The Cyber Defense Matrix helps you understand what you need and which products solve your problems.
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Identify Quick Wins and Foundational
While creating a cyber security strategy, identify the quick wins, foundational and high-risk items you must address initially. Then, identify future steps of the plan and prioritize actions. Quick wins are easy to fix things. Therefore, ensure that you have both quick wins and foundational tasks in the beginning.
Step 4: Evaluate Organization’s Ability to Execute a Cyber Security Plan
Finally, assess if your organization can get the necessary work done for security. Observe your current security and IT teams to understand their bandwidth and skill sets. If you don’t have the required resources, outsource some security work or augment your team members to execute the cyber security plan.
During this step, think about the future of your IT team or the business. Then, see if your IT team can handle any company-wide large-scale projects in the future.
Final Thoughts
The cybersecurity strategy development and implementation is an ongoing process and will face many challenges. Critically, it is important to monitor and reassess the organization’s cybersecurity maturity to measure the progress toward your objectives. The earlier you identify the falling area, the sooner you can report it to catch up.
Measuring progress includes tests and exercises, internal and external audits that simulate future events under various circumstances. Finally, rethink your cybersecurity strategy if a new threat arises. Agility in cyber security is very important. Don’t hesitate to update your plan with changes in security technologies and cyber threats. Or upgrade if your organization acquires new assets that require safeguarding.
