A recent study has highlighted the importance of natural light in the office environment. Completed by experts from an American university of Medicine, the research aimed to examine the impact of daylight upon office workers in terms of their own perceived wellbeing, sleep duration and quality and exercise undertaken. The study was performed on a total of 49 workers, 27 of whom worked in offices without windows and the rest of whom worked in close proximity to a window. Each of the 49 employees worked an ordinary shift and none were aware of the study’s exact purpose so that results could not be skewed.

The first finding of the research was that, over a week’s work, consistent exposure to natural light seemed to produce a greater desire to exercise more as well as an enhanced perceived level of wellbeing. These people also slept for an average of 46 minutes longer per night than those participants without office windows, who suffered from more disturbances to each night’s sleep. Overall, the results were markedly favourable for those workers who spent each day in natural light and led the study to suggest that natural light has the unique ability to enhance ‘productivity,’ ‘health’ and the ‘safety of the community they work and live in.’

Is your office-based business taking advantage of the windows in your premises? If not then you might like to change the interior design and layout so that employees are able to benefit from the natural light as much as possible. Staples Advantage can provide a broad range of business interior products and facility solutions which could enable you to improve the health and workplace productivity of your employees.

August 19th 2014 | Back to Industry Insights