It’s National Bike To Work Month, the perfect time to dust off the old ten speed and give bicycle commuting a try. The Weather Channel posted a video of Al Roker describing the pleasure he gets from seeing New York while the “city is still asleep” when he bikes to work. Plus, it’s a great way to get some exercise. But bicycle commuting offers other benefits than exercise and the opportunity to slow down and enjoy the scenery. Bike to work, and you’ll reap great health and monetary rewards. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s Workplace Wellness Month and what better way to celebrate than a rundown of the most dangerous jobs in America? Some of the occupations on the list are no surprise — yeah, we kind of knew law enforcement was dangerous work. But there are some surprises.

Top 5 most dangerous jobs in America:

1. Laborers
2. Nursing aids, orderlies and attendants
3. Janitors
4. Truck Drivers
5. Police Officers

Together, these five occupations account for 20% of all non-fatal workplace injuries. Most of the injuries are musoskelatal — every thing from broken bones, strained muscles, repetitive stress injuries and the like.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Kimberly Clark Professional performed a study to find out where the germs are hiding in the typical workplace. They identified six germ hot spots and, shockingly, bathroom fixtures are nowhere on the list.  Five of the top six are in the break room. That’s right — where you eat!

Top six germiest areas of your office:

1. Kitchen faucet
2. Microwave handle
3. Computer keyboard
4. Refrigerator door handle
5. Water fountain button
6. Vending Machine Button.

Aside from the ick factor, these high levels of contamination cost business money.  Sick workers cost the economy $227 billion a year in lost productivity. You can slow the spread of germs in the office break room with regularly cleaning surfaces with disinfectants and by fostering good personal habits in workers. Kimberly Clark offers a few tips that have can have a big impact.

Surface Disinfectant Wipes Encourage workers to wipe down faucets, microwave handles and other surfaces by placing disinfectant wipes out near highly trafficked areas.

Hand Sanitizer Stations Reduce the number of germs that end up on surfaces by making hand sanitizer widely available to employees.

Hand Soap Make sure there is always hand soap available at the office sink. Regularly hand washing is the most effective way to stop the spread of germs.

Sources: The Fiscal Times, PR Newswire, Kimberly Clarke Healthy Workplace Project

Natural hand sanitizers have proliferated the market in recent years. But do alcohol-free hand sanitizers work as well as traditional alcohol based products like Purell Sanitizer? Research says no, as demonstrated in this ABC News Report.  Alcohol does a better job of breaking down bacteria and cleaning your hands. The most effective hand sanitzers are at least 60%. Make sure you use enough — your hands should take at least 15 seconds to dry after using hand sanitizer.

Recommended Hand Sanitizers

Each of these hand sanitizers are at leat 60% alchohol:

Purell Instant Hand Sanitizer

Kleenex Instant Hand Sanitizer

Clorox Hand Sanitizer

Soap & Water –still better than any hand sanitizer.

Washing your hands for at least 20 seconds with plain old hand soap (and drying them with paper towels!) is still better than hand sanitizer. That’s because hand washing kills viruses as well as bacteria, including cold &  flu viruses. You don’t even have to use anti-bacterial soap to kill the most common germs. As long and you thoroughly wash and dry your hands, you’re good to go. Still, hand sanitizers are better than nothing. Just save them for when you can’t get to a sink.

Cold and flu season is officially in full swing. Flu season usually peaks in January and February. If it seems worse this year, that’s because it is: and cities across the country are experiencing infection rates of up to 26 times higher than last year. much higher infection rates than last year.

We’ve shared some common sense advice or avoiding the flu this year. Basically, wash your hands and disinfect hard surfaces. But what about office supplies that you can’t easily disinfect, such as file folders? There is an alternative. Many common office supplies are available in antimicrobial options that help stop the spread of germs. Antimicrobial coatings kill the germs that linger on surfaces and spread illnesses. Add these antimicrobial office supplies to your flu fighting arsenal.

Antimicrobial Smead Folders	3M Antimicrobial Mouse Pad	Antimicrobial Avery Binders
Alliance Antimicrobial  Rubber Bands	Saunders Antimicrobial Clipboard	Victor Antimicrobial Calculators
ACCO Antimicrobial Report Covers	Stanley Bostitch Antimicrobial Pencil Sharpener	Quality Park  Antimicrobial Business Envelopes

Source: flu.gov, cdc.gov, ABC News

It’s going to be a long winter if you spend your days freezing at work. If your office or cubicle is too cold for an office sweater to provide any comfort, get a space heater. We’ve offered some buying tips here at Office Ink before, and there’s a great electric space heater buying guide up at OnTimeSupplies.com. But here is the bottom line for increasing the comfort right at your desk.

I’ve always thought the best part of the office Halloween Party was the Halloween Candy. According to a survey cited by U.S. News and World Reports, I’m not alone:

“While theatrical attire sounds whimsical and fun, food actually trumped costumes among what employees want most at work this Halloween. According to the survey, 70 percent of employees said they would most enjoy a Halloween breakfast/lunch or free candy/treats at work. Whether you’re a front-line receptionist or someone steeped in analysis in a secluded back office, you may consider fetching a bag of Snickers bars…”

Bottom line: no one will care if your last minute Halloween costume is a little less than awe-inspiring if you bring the goodies.

Halloween Candy: top 5 brands of 2012

1. Snickers

2. M & M’s

3. Trident

4. Reese’s

5. Dove/Galaxy

So, bring a bag or two of the most popular candy brands to the office Halloween Party. It’s cheap, you don’t have to bake, and you’ll be giving the people what they want.

sources: U.S. News & World Reports, InvestorPlace.com.

So, Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, but how old is Columbus Day? Office Ink rounds up some Columbus Day trivia.

• New York City held the first America’s first Columbus Day celebration in 1792 to celebrate the 300th anniversary.
• One hundred years later, President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation encouraging Americans to mark the anniversary of Columbus’ voyage with patriotic festivities. “On that day let the people, so far as possible, cease from toil and devote themselves to such exercises as may best express honor to the discoverer and their appreciation of the great achievements of the four completed centuries of American life.”
• President Franklin Roosevelt finally made Columbus Day an official federal holiday in 1937.
• Columbus day was originally observed every October 12, but was fixed to the second Monday of October in 1971.
• For many, the holiday is a way of both honoring Columbus’ achievements and celebrating Italian-American heritage. That’s my excuse for having a big plate of spaghetti tonight.

You can find out more about Columbus, and pick up all sorts of historical trivia at history.com. Whether you’re at work or enjoying a day off, I hope you’re having a great Columbus Day!

Martha Stewart is a genius. I saw this tip at Real Simple and just had to try it out. The results are in: if you don’t have a can of compressed air on hand, you can totally use sticky notes to clean your computer keyboard.

Step 1: Fold up the sticky part of the Post-it Note.

Step 2: Slide the sticky portion between your keyboard keys.

Step 3: Get grossed out by all the debris hiding in your keyboard.

Clearly, I need to stop eating lunch at my desk.

Finding the right refills for your label printer is a hassle when you shop online. The code monkeys at OnTimeSupplies.com are working hard to simplify the process. Here’s a sneak peak at the work in progress:

Soon, you’ll be able to see exactly which labels work with your label printer. We’ll let you know as soon as the new label guide goes live.