In today’s offices, the sheer amount of wired equipment can be overwhelming; from monitors and keyboards, to landlines and mobile chargers.
In addition to printers, lamps and anything else you might have on your desk, the metres and metres of tangled cabling can be an eyesore at the least and a health and safety hazard at the most. Cable management is, at its simplest, tidying up the miles of wires and cables that accompany modern office equipment.
Of course in an ideal world, we would all go wireless, but this isn’t always an option! Here we take a look at why we need to consider cable management, as well as some simple and easy-to-implement ways to organise your office cabling.
First things first. Why should we even bother to tidy up the cables in the office? Well, it’s not just about making the office look neat and tidy – here are a couple of reasons to sort those wires out, now.
Health & Safety in the office
‘Cable spaghetti’ has the potential to be an accident waiting to happen. Tangled cables can easily be tripped over, causing injuries to work colleagues or even clients and/or customers on the premises. Add to this the possibility of cables being disconnected, which could lead to damaged connections, malfunctioning and even equipment crashing to the ground, and you begin to see why this is an important part of office life.
Aesthetics in the office
This is not necessarily the primary reason for good cable management but tidy cabling will make the office look better, which is more important than you think. If you have an office that welcomes clients or visitors, poor cable management in the reception area or in meeting rooms will not send a positive message. The impression given to visitors will be of a disorganised environment, perhaps even sloppy. Likewise, employees will benefit from a neat work environment and the importance of effective cable management in contributing to a tranquil environment, should not be underestimated.
How to manage cables safely
Now we’ve looked at why you should sort your office cables out, here are our 5 top tips for managing your cables safely:
1. Many offices rely on extension leads so begin by unplugging everything and mount the extension to a wall or the underside of a desk. Nylon P-clips are useful here for hiding the lead under desks.
2. With everything unplugged and your extension mounted, look at the length of your cables. Can they be shortened to stop them from dangling? A simple nylon 6/6 tie is ideal here and as they are available in lengths up to 540mm, you will be able to gather up even the thickest of cables.
3. Identify your cables! This is particularly useful if you are plugging and unplugging things into your extension leads on a regular basis. The easiest way to do this is by using a marker cable tie which can be written on easily. Alternatively, coloured cable ties can be used to colour code devices for quick identification.
4. Can cables be grouped together? Multiple leads coming from your computer to monitors and printers can be tidied away – simply gather them up with a cable tie and then wrap the bundle with flexible conduit for a really tidy look.
5. Tidy unused cables. Not all office devices will be plugged in continuously e.g. tablet and phone chargers may not always be connected. Simply attach a cable clip to the desk with the adhesive base and thread your cables through, until they are needed.
These tips will have your office cable-tidy in no time and will help make your work environment less cluttered and therefore more productive, and a much nicer place to be!
We are always happy to assist with any of your cable management enquiries, so call today on 01623 706241 to see how we can help.
