No description available.

Kontorsmiljön kan variera beroende på arbetsplats, därför anses det viktigt att studera hur den fysiska kontorsmiljön kan påverka arbetstagarnas trivsel, gemenskap och arbetssituation. Tidigare forskning har visat att faktorer så som antal personer som delar kontorsrum eller individens möjlighet till att sitta avskilt kan ha en påverkan på arbetstagarens känsla av sammanhang i sitt arbete. Till och med arbetstagarens upplevelse av kontorets luftkvalitet och belysning har visat påverka arbetstagarnas beteenden i arbetet. I januari 2016 bytte arbetstagarna inom Hälso- och Sjukvårdssektorn i en av Göteborgs stads stadsdelsförvaltningar kontorslokaler, de flyttade från kontorslokaler i ett äldreboende till ett av kommunens kontorslokaler. Syftet med denna studie var att få en bättre förståelse över hur deras nya kontorsmiljö kan ha påverkat arbetstagarnas arbetssituation samt känsla av gemenskap och trivsel. Studien genomfördes med hjälp av kvalitativa intervjuer med nio av Hälso- och Sjukvårdssektorns medarbetare samt en mindre observation av den fysiska arbetsmiljön i deras nya kontorslokaler. De mest framträdande slutsatserna som drogs i studien var att det nya kontoret bidrog till att alla sektorns funktioner nu delar kontorslokal. Något som haft en stark påverkan på arbetstagarnas arbetssituation, gemenskap och trivsel. Då de nu fått en förbättrad kommunikation   mellan funktionerna, vilket även bidragit till bättre förutsättningar för samarbete. Studiens resultat visade även att kontorens storlek, struktur och fysiska attribut hade en påverkan av arbetstagarens känsla av sammanhang, genom att skapa bättre förutsättningar för ordning, kontroll och samarbete. / The office environment can variate in different workplaces, therefore it’s important to research how much the physical office environment can influence the employees’ work situation and feeling of community and wellbeing. Previous research has shown that factors such as the amount of people in an office space or the possibility to privacy can influence the employees’ sense of coherence in their work. Even the employees’ experience of the air quality and light has been shown to affect the employees’ behavior at work. In January of 2016 the employees at the Health Care sector in one of the city districts in Göteborgs stad moved their offices, from offices in an old retirement home to a county office building. The purpose of this research is to get a better understanding of how the new office environment have influenced the employees’ experience in regards to their new work situation and feeling of community and wellbeing. The research was conducted with the help of quality based interviews with nine employees and a small observation of the physical work environment at the Heath Care sector’s new office spaces. The major findings in this study showed that the new closeness, were the different functions within the sector now share the same office space, has had a clear influence on the employees work situation and feelings of community and wellbeing. Where the communication between the functions has improved, something that also has improved their conditions for cooperation. The study also showed that the size, the structure and the physical attributed of the office space has had an influence on the employees’ sense of coherence, by creating better conditions for organization, control and cooperation.

Title: The Evaluation of Managers and Employees' Awareness of the Ergonomics in Office Environment Objectives: The aim of the thesis was a quantitative research to assess the awareness of ergonomics, working environment, office equipment, motor behavior and the appearance of professionally conditioned diseases among office workers, recruiters and management of companies in the Czech Republic. In conclusion outlined recommendations to improve the situation. Methods: The thesis using electronic polling using non-standardized questionnaire, which provides primary data collection. The method is used to analyze the awareness of ergonomic environments, motor behavior in the workplace, the occurrence professionally conditioned diseases and office equipment. The questionnaire was distributed to companies throughout the Czech Republic, a total of 678 employees were contacted, data was compiled from 442 respondents with an average age of 32,6 years. For data analysis was used software Microsoft ® Excel for Mac version 15.20. Results: It was found that ergonomics training and OSH passed only 25% of employees of Czech companies in the research sample. It came up to 20% more employees of national companies rather than international companies of the total number. The data show that the awareness of ergonomics is...

Increasing concern about energy consumption and thesimultaneous need for an acceptable thermal environment makesit necessary to estimate in advance what effect differentthermal factors will have on the occupants. Temperaturemeasurements alone do not account for all climate effects onthe human body and especially not for local effects ofconvection and radiation. People as well as thermal manikinscan detect heat loss changes on local body parts. This factmakes it appropriate to develop measurement methods andcomputer models with the corresponding working principles andlevels of resolution. One purpose of this thesis is to linktogether results from these various investigation techniqueswith the aim of assessing different effects of the thermalclimate on people. The results can be used to facilitatedetailed evaluations of thermal influences both in indoorenvironments in buildings and in different types ofvehicles. This thesis presents a comprehensive and detaileddescription of the theories and methods behind full-scalemeasurements with thermal manikins. This is done with new,extended definitions of the concept of equivalent temperature,and new theories describing equivalent temperature as avector-valued function. One specific advantage is that thelocally measured or simulated results are presented with newlydeveloped "comfort zone diagrams". These diagrams provide newways of taking into consideration both seat zone qualities aswell as the influence of different clothing types on theclimate assessment with "clothing-independent" comfort zonediagrams. Today, different types of computer programs such as CAD(Computer Aided Design) and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)are used for product development, simulation and testing of,for instance, HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning)systems, particularly in the building and vehicle industry.Three different climate evaluation methods are used andcompared in this thesis: human subjective measurements, manikinmeasurements and computer modelling. A detailed description ispresented of how developed simulation methods can be used toevaluate the influence of thermal climate in existing andplanned environments. In different climate situationssubjective human experiences are compared to heat lossmeasurements and simulations with thermal manikins. Thecalculation relationships developed in this research agree wellwith full-scale measurements and subject experiments indifferent thermal environments. The use of temperature and flowfield data from CFD calculations as input produces acceptableresults, especially in relatively homogeneous environments. Inmore heterogeneous environments the deviations are slightlylarger. Possible reasons for this are presented along withsuggestions for continued research, new relationships andcomputer codes. Key-words:equivalent temperature, subject, thermalmanikin, mannequin, thermal climate assessment, heat loss,office environment, cabin climate, ventilated seat, computermodel, CFD, clothing-independent, comfort zone diagram. / <p>QCR 20161027</p>

<p>Increasing concern about energy consumption and thesimultaneous need for an acceptable thermal environment makesit necessary to estimate in advance what effect differentthermal factors will have on the occupants. Temperaturemeasurements alone do not account for all climate effects onthe human body and especially not for local effects ofconvection and radiation. People as well as thermal manikinscan detect heat loss changes on local body parts. This factmakes it appropriate to develop measurement methods andcomputer models with the corresponding working principles andlevels of resolution. One purpose of this thesis is to linktogether results from these various investigation techniqueswith the aim of assessing different effects of the thermalclimate on people. The results can be used to facilitatedetailed evaluations of thermal influences both in indoorenvironments in buildings and in different types ofvehicles.</p><p>This thesis presents a comprehensive and detaileddescription of the theories and methods behind full-scalemeasurements with thermal manikins. This is done with new,extended definitions of the concept of equivalent temperature,and new theories describing equivalent temperature as avector-valued function. One specific advantage is that thelocally measured or simulated results are presented with newlydeveloped "comfort zone diagrams". These diagrams provide newways of taking into consideration both seat zone qualities aswell as the influence of different clothing types on theclimate assessment with "clothing-independent" comfort zonediagrams.</p><p>Today, different types of computer programs such as CAD(Computer Aided Design) and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)are used for product development, simulation and testing of,for instance, HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning)systems, particularly in the building and vehicle industry.Three different climate evaluation methods are used andcompared in this thesis: human subjective measurements, manikinmeasurements and computer modelling. A detailed description ispresented of how developed simulation methods can be used toevaluate the influence of thermal climate in existing andplanned environments. In different climate situationssubjective human experiences are compared to heat lossmeasurements and simulations with thermal manikins. Thecalculation relationships developed in this research agree wellwith full-scale measurements and subject experiments indifferent thermal environments. The use of temperature and flowfield data from CFD calculations as input produces acceptableresults, especially in relatively homogeneous environments. Inmore heterogeneous environments the deviations are slightlylarger. Possible reasons for this are presented along withsuggestions for continued research, new relationships andcomputer codes.</p><p><b>Key-words:</b>equivalent temperature, subject, thermalmanikin, mannequin, thermal climate assessment, heat loss,office environment, cabin climate, ventilated seat, computermodel, CFD, clothing-independent, comfort zone diagram.</p>

Twenty weeks ago I got the honor to pursue a project for ABB Crane Systems. After success with an innovative direction on their Remote Control Station they wanted a continuation of industrial design in another new product development. The aim was to specify the customer needs and create a concept to a Terminal Test Box (TTB), with hopes to gain momentum and funds for continuation of the project.   The terminals earn their money based on productivity of the quay, meaning that the number of ship-to-shore lifts per minute becomes very important. Clients have requested a solution where they can simulate their cranes to ensure function. At the moment approximately five prototypes have been delivered, for example to Peel Ports in Liverpool and Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico. The current Test box lack a proper casing and user adapted features. Based on interviews with personnel at Crane Systems representing linked/adjacent work with TTB the customer needs was determined to: a solution adapted to commissioning phase,a process panel easy to reach, access to components without exposing them, oversight of components and ability to move TTB. The test box is used either standing on the floor or placed on a table. Placed on the floor the operator must twist and bend to access the box, leading to an unpleasant working posture. Set on the table the box is bulky.   The initial idea development resulted in three potential positions and seven initial concepts. Of these seven three ideas was conceptualized and graded in Pughs matrix. The concept Stand high offered a convenient and ergonomic solution independent of the available interior in commissioning phase. However Stand high had weaknesses where the other two concepts Cross and Transparent showed strengths and therefore the three concepts were combined into one. Knowledge about the included components such as an industrial computer and power supply and their requirements has driven the process.   TTB will be produced in approximately ten units per year. The slim edition made it alluring to look into state of the art manufacturing such as Additive Manufacturing compared to the more traditional use of shielded metal. Possibilities regarding the small series can be used by ABB for continuously trying the product towards the customer and offer a flexible product that can be individually adapted to some extent.   The final concept of TTB is improved compared to the Test box looking at horizontal and vertical spacing between the components, which also enables cable channels. The process panel included has an inclination of 15 degrees to avoid reflections as much as possible and to create an ergonomic working position. It has a see through front door giving access and viewing of the components. A combined CNC and 3D-printing prototype/product from the company HLH in aluminum and Plexiglas would cost approximately 24 750 SEK. Manufacturing in shaped sheet metal at Sweco (without a see through door) would cost approximately 10 000 SEK. This is creating an exciting situation, where the recommendation is to create a prototype to further evaluate the concept into completion.

No description available.

Previous research and numerous examples of successful companies indicate that the office environment has a relationship to the brand identity. Despite the hints saying that these areas are linked to each other, theories about the connection seems insufficient. The aim of this study where therefore to identify possible connections between the office environment and brand identity from the employees' perspective. To investigate this, a survey was designed, which was based on three hypotheses, which were as follows: Perceived interior is positively related to perceived values, perceived communicative office environment is positively related to company culture, Perceived ergonomics are positively related to the perceived purpose. All of the hypotheses highlighted employees' perception of the office environment and brand identity. To further separate the concepts into measurable variables, an operationalization were conducted. These variables were then analyzed together, to see whether there was a relationship between office environments as the independent variable and brand identity as the dependent variable. The results showed that all hypotheses had a statistical significance and could therefore be accepted. Through the analysis there were control variables which got applied, where were as follows; age, gender, period of employment and lastly, hours per week which also showed a statistical significance. / Tidigare forskning och ett flertal exempel på framgångsrika företag indikerar på att kontorsmiljö har en relation till varumärkesidentitet. Trots en antydan på att områdena har en koppling till varandra är teorier om dess samband bristfällig. Denna forskningsstudie syftade därför till att kartlägga eventuella samband mellan kontorsmiljö och varumärkesidentitet ur anställdas perspektiv. För att undersöka detta utformades en enkätundersökning som utgick från tre hypoteser, vilket var följande: Upplevd interiör är positivt relaterad till upplevda värden, Upplevd kommunikativ kontorsmiljö är positivt relaterad till företagskultur, Upplevd ergonomi är positivt relaterad till upplevd syfte. Samtliga hypoteser belyste anställdas upplevelse av kontorsmiljön samt varumärkesidentiteten. Genom en operationalisering bröts begreppen ned till mätbara variabler. Fortsättningsvis ställdes dessa variabler mot varandra för att kunna urskilja samband, med kontorsmiljö som oberoende variabel och varumärkesidentitet som beroende variabel. Resultaten visade att samtliga hypoteser hade en statistisk signifikans och kunde därmed accepteras. Vid analysen tillämpades även kontrollvariablerna; ålder, kön anställningsperiod och timmar per vecka varav den sistnämnda även påvisade statistisk signifikans.

This doctoral thesis examines the office environment’s influence on employees’ perception oftheir workplaces, their organizations and their job satisfaction, as well as their health and wellbeing.It is based on an empirical study of 491 office employees from twenty-six companies anddivisions in large companies. Seven office types, defined by their architectural and functionalfeatures, are represented in the study group: cell-office, shared-room office, small open planoffice, medium-sized open plan office, large open plan office, flex-office and combi-office. Theresearch has its basis in architecture, although an interdisciplinary approach using organizationaland management theory, environmental psychology, and social and stress medicine has beenemployed. Qualitative (Articles I &amp; V) and quantitative methods(Articles II &amp; IV) were used.The thesis also contains an explorative, review article. Thus it comprises all in all five articles.Article I is an analysis of the importance of architectural quality for employees´ perceptionand experience of the office using Lynch’s method (1960) developed to measure inhabitants’perception of architectural quality in cities. The study shows that in the office the experienceto a high degree is independent of both the scale of the office and office type; instead it isdetermined by the quality of the plan layout combined with the quality of other design features.It also shows Lynch’s method to be useful in foreseeing where the elements that reinforce‘imageability’ will most likely appear in an office environment.Article II investigates employees’ environmental satisfaction focusing on:1) ambient factors; 2) noise and privacy; and 3) design-related factors. The results, based onregression models with age, gender, job rank and line of business as additional covariates,show office type as a factor with a statistically significant impact on satisfaction with the officeenvironment. Employees in cell-offices are prominently most satisfied, followed by those inflex-offices, cell-offices rate low only on social aspects of design-related factors. A major findingis the internal differences between office types where employees share workspace and facilitieswith lowest satisfaction in medium-sized and large open plan offices.Article III is a review article that analyzes the employees’ office experiences in two ways:1) by framing the physical work environment’s influence on employees into the model oforganizational theorist Davis (1994); and 2) by categorizing the office experience into twogroups based on the nature of the experience and problems related to them. The results of theemperical study presented in Article II are the basis for the discussion in this article.Article IV examines employees’ health, well-being and job satisfaction. A multivariateanalysis applied to the study sample and equivalent to that of Article II shows significantly higherrisks for ill health and poor well-being in medium-sized and small open plan offices, comparedespecially with cell-office. In medium-sized open plan and combi-offices the employees evincethe lowest job satisfaction. The best chance for good health status and job satisfaction is in cellofficesand flex-offices.Article V examines the office architecture´s importance for employees’ perception of theirown workplaces and organizations based on the two key components of architecture—theaesthetical and functional dimensions. The results show that overall the employees had positiveexperiences of their office environments. These mainly concerned the aesthetical dimension,whereas the negative comments dealt with the functional dimension. The aesthetical dimensionappears not only to set the agenda for employees’ perception of the workplace and organizationas a whole, but also for the perception of the functional dimensions. The functional dimensionswere only in focus when the workstation and its proximate area were discussed. / <p>QC 20100908</p>

Today, as a result of the improvements especially in the area of medical sciences, conditions of life have changed and the work period has been prolonged. Currently more than one generation has been living together, and even working together. In recent years, it is observed that generationally diverse environments and product or services addressing multi-generational user groups have attracted the attention of particularly the marketing sector and this attention to the generational diversity has become a trend in the design field just as it has in many other areas. This study analyses the design assets of the office environments from the perspective of the important characteristic of the workforce, namely the generational diversity. Designing the office environment by taking only the current and future generations into consideration is not a sufficient way anymore. So, office designers are expected to consider also the older generations existing at the same environment. This trend towards generational diversity has started with the designs and arrangements of home environments / later, due to the advantages it has provided for the organizations&rsquo / success, it has gradually spread towards the designs of office environments. In this study, the work habits of generations have been analyzed initially and then it has been related to the office environments and work cultures. At the end of the study, the effects of multi-generational workforce on the office environment design assets have been discussed.