How to: create mezzanine harmony in your warehouse

The world of business has always been more interested in profits than design. That’s why stocks and shares are such a huge deal and the plight of worker’s rights in warehouses is barely reported by the news media.

Unless there’s a mass of burning tyres and protest signs outside a warehouse, the news doesn’t care and, in turn, factory conditions continue to sink to their lowest ebb.

When these problems arise, however, an employer has to look at every factor of the problem at hand. Sometimes it’ll be poor wages or low morale. But, more importantly to this article, each of these problems can be assuaged by increasing the quality of the environment someone is working in.

The misery of sick buildings

This is a theory backed up by sociologists, who refer to those negatively experiencing design decisions as suffering from “sick building syndrome” (SSS).

Essentially, SSS is the theory that a worker’s mood is in direct correlation with their environment. If you’re working in a crumby warehouse with poor lighting, no heat and the kind of interior design that would suit a sci-fi dystopia, you’re not going to enjoy your job. Likewise, if your warehouse is all candy canes and rainbows, you’ll feel a lot happier.

Despite the importance of profits, your employees should still be valuable to you, not least because their happiness has a direct impact on their productivity. So if you don’t figure out how to make them feel valued, they’ll stop trying to prove their worth to you or, worse yet, will stop working entirely.

Moving onto mezzanines

But there’s too little time to focus on the entire history of warehouse design and what it means to your company. Instead, let’s focus on an important element of architecture in a warehouse – mezzanine floors.

Essentially platforms held up by steel girders, mezzanine floors can be the linchpin of design in your warehouse.

Whether they’re successful or not largely depends on your meticulousness in their implication. Where they’re placed could turn your workplace into a sick building OR give it a clean bill of health.

With that in mind, let’s wrap things up with a few tips on how you should place your mezzanine flooring. Bear it in mind and watch your profits soar.

The correct position

Are the steps to your mezzanine in a convenient position? Is the platform itself placed efficiently? Will using a mezzanine floor to travel from one section of a warehouse reduce or increase your productivity?

All these questions (and plenty more) should be asked of your building contractor before you begin building a mezzanine.

When you’ve considered these practical implications, you’ll be able to fit your new warehouse fixture into your home with ease.

Fear of the loom

One of the symptoms of SSS is a nagging depression, a claustrophobia that, thanks partly to an eight-hour working day, can make the sufferer feel increasingly isolated.

And with one wrong move, your new mezzanine could be the root cause of your worker’s anxiety.

When placing it, bear in mind that no one wants to feel like their boss is literally looming over them. Although it can be in range of workstations, try to keep it at a reasonable distance from your employees.

The feeling of being watched is a common stress factor for many employees in their workplace. If your mezzanine does have to be near workstations, make it an open space free for anyone to use. This will foster a sense of bonhomie between yourself and your employees.

If you’ve got any other suggestions on how to place a warehouse mezzanine, let us know!

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