by Fern Shaw | Oct 11, 2016 | mains fed water cooler, Water Coolers
We all know how important it is to remain properly hydrated. Many studies over the years have dealt with the adverse effects of dehydration, how it affects cognitive and mental performance, while also causing mood disturbances – not to mention the fact that from a physiological point of view, we simply could not survive for more than a few days without water. But we often underestimate the significance of hydration in the work environment, where performance is key – which is why water coolers are for many, and should be for others, an essential component to ensuring staff productivity.
Statistics from 2004 show that illness absence (with 168 million working days lost) costs UK employers a staggering £12b a year. It was noted that good hydration contributes to workers’ health and safety, and that even mild levels of dehydration adversely affected performance. The importance then of providing drinking water, whether in the form of drinking fountains or water coolers, to ensure staff members remain properly hydrated has not been lost on many of the more responsible industry sectors.
In 2007 the Royal College of Nursing published a Hydration Best Practice Toolkit – the aim was to better inform employees across the various health care fields, how important it was to remain properly hydrated and what the benefits were of drinking enough water. Of the many fact-sheets included in the toolkit, one is particularly pertinent, because it looked specifically at the importance of Water in the Workplace and how that affects productivity – a key performance indicator for any business.
Let’s begin with what constitutes good hydration. The amount we should be drinking each day depends on a number of factors, but there is an ideal range dependant on gender – if you’re male, you should be frequenting water coolers more often than women, because you need between 1.2 and 3 litres of water per day, while women need less – between 1.2 and 2.2 litres.
According to the fact-sheet, these are some of the early signs of dehydration:
Light-headedness, dizziness, tiredness, irritability, headache, sunken features (particularly the eyes), flushed skin, heat intolerance, dry mouth, throat and eyes, and skin that is loose and lacks elasticity. There may be a burning sensation in the stomach, urine output will be reduced, and may appear darker than usual.
Throughout the day we lose water from our bodies in a variety of ways: urine, evaporation from our lungs and skin when we breathe, perspiration, and a small amount is lost in faeces. Environmental factors also play a part in how much water we lose each day, and our bodies only perform efficiently if we restore the water balance. Check over here In order to do so we need to be vigilant about consuming fluids and there needs to be easy access to drinking water throughout the day. In Part II of this two-part blog series we take a closer look at the health and performance benefits of remaining hydrated, and how that benefits productivity during the work day. In the interim, for a wide variety of high-quality water coolers, whether Bottled or Mains Fed, whether to buy or rent, call AquAid today.
by Fern Shaw | Aug 22, 2016 | Water Coolers
We all remember the phantasmagorical 2012 Olympics held in the U.K. which, according to all reports, was a resounding success and now, four years later, we’re in the thick of things with the Let’s Go Rio Olympics.
And when I say the thick of things, I mean it, from broken limbs to athletes been sent home through to let’s just call it; men behaving badly pre- and post-events and then being called out about it. The temperatures are rising and it’s not just due to the weather!
On a more positive note, Rio 2016 is officially Great Britain’s best overseas Olympics after they surpassed not only the Beijing tally of 47 medals, but their own 2012 Olympics with 65 medals, by winning a total of an impressive 67 medals to date. Well done, Team GB!
There are so many considerations to be taken into account during the games, and not least, the athletes (indeed everyone involved) keeping themselves in tip top condition and ensuring that they keep themselves adequately hydrated.
Sports hydration, understandably, is quite different to the average person’s hydration requirements, so this will have been taken into account during this year’s Games, including factors such as the temperatures in Rio, despite it being winter in Brazil at the time of these Summer Olympics.
AquAid played a big part at the 2012 Olympics by ensuring that there was always water at and around the Olympic sites, whether it was for the spectators, the vendors, or the village itself. We can’t say that AquAid were present in Rio providing water and water coolers to all attending the Games, but we were definitely with Team GB in spirit and would like to extend a very sincere congratulation to Team GB for doing the UK proud!
by Fern Shaw | Jun 8, 2016 | 110v water coolers, construction water coolers
Construction companies are part of a specialised industry, as are their requirements, as they need to ensure that their construction sites adhere to regulations that ensure the health and safety of all on site.
One such requirement is that there is adequate hydration available to the entire workforce on site for the duration of the construction.
The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) states, in part:
Drinking water
Drinking water must be provided or made available at readily accessible and suitable places.
This is where AquAid comes in.
AquAid are the premier choice for a broad range of water cooler provisions in the UK.
We are also the preferred supplier to a number of specialised industries, one of these being to the construction industry, as we understand the specific requirements that construction companies, small or large, have.
Incorporated into our water cooler provision to construction companies we offer the following services as a standard:
- Next-day delivery and collection of water coolers.
- Guaranteed next-day delivery of water.
- Next-day call-outs for repairs.
- Educational hydration package for workers, show casing the importance of remaining hydrated at work to reduce the risk of accidents.
- Supply of both 240V and 110V water coolers.
- Dedicated account managers on both a local and national level.
We already supply numerous construction companies with water coolers throughout the UK, ranging from smaller companies with only a few sites, to some of the largest national companies with hundreds of sites at any one time. Our unique ability to offer a combination of both local and national account managers mean that the ordering process is hassle-free, both at the point of set-up and for re-ordering of supplies.
Call us today to enquire about availability and the unique service we can offer to you the construction industry.
by Fern Shaw | Apr 4, 2016 | Water Coolers
My particular love arrived when I started playing with my brother’s hand me down Lego. In this I must say, I’m a purist – the old Lego is what Lego is meant to be. I’ve never quite understood all the pink and purple brightly coloured weirdly shaped pieces Lego is available in now. The good old white bases and blue building blocks were all I needed to get cracking with spending hours and hours building designer houses. A Sunday in the breezeway on the rug was the usual location. I’d endlessly construct Bauhaus type houses and show them off gleefully to my father – who, after the 5th or 6th attempt (such attempts looking markedly similar in design), would nod and feign interest.
I still think of pursuing the field of architecture (that pesky Maths, though) but for now (and for all of my life so far), just to look architecture is like catnip to me. A few examples to muse over (and your opinion on great architecture is most welcome) are:
The Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, what I fondly call the ‘Dribble Castle’. A dribble castle for those of you that don’t know, are castles made using a particular density of wet beach sand;
The Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew Temple (also known as The Million Bottle Temple) in Thailand – now there’s recycling at its best;
The Guggenheim Building in Balboa. This amazing museum of modern and contemporary art is in Spain. It would seem that a lot of spectacular architecture originates or is built in Spain;
A particular favourite, the Flatiron Building, New York – named for its flat iron type shape – personally, I think the building looks a stretched out wedge of cheese – but each to their own – and, last, but by no means, least;
The St Pancras Station and Hotel in Camden. Of course, there’s more beautiful architecture in the UK than one can throw a stick at, but I thought I’d go for the not too obvious.
With these examples and all variations in-between, architecture can remind us (I do believe) of how to achieve greatness through buildings.
So if you’ve run out of topics to chat about with your colleagues on your water cooler runs, why not open a discussion about their favourite building and why? I guarantee you’ll have started something!
by Fern Shaw | Sep 11, 2015 | Water Coolers
I recently read a delightful article about a woman who ordered a pizza in Italy and was told that such a pizza doesn’t exist.
The gist of the *article is about how the journalist, who resides in Italy, went to her local takeaway pizzeria and ordered a marinara to which the takeaway owner and pizza maker promptly told her that such a pizza doesn’t exist.
According to the pizza maker, the customer had ordered a pizza rossa.
The differences?
Traditionally, a marinara is a tomato and garlic pizza.
A pizza rossa is a simple tomato and garlic pizza – with the addition of mozzarella.
The journalist was used to a marinara being a pizza with tomato, garlic and mozzarella. The pizza maker vehemently disagreed. She said she was perhaps thinking of a margherita and that she could perhaps make her a margherita with garlic.
A margherita is a pizza topped with tomato and mozzarella.
I found the whole incident to be very amusing as I imagined the face-off between someone who is clearly a pizza purist and someone who just enjoys good pizza.
What’s your opinion on the matter? Are you a purist or not? I’m hedging my bets because pizza has obviously evolved radically from its origins in Italy and it has been significantly changed to suit the ever changing tastes depending on which country you live in.
What I do know is that I’m a thin crust baby all the way. And if you put pineapple or seafood on my pizza, things will get ugly pretty quickly.
I’m heading up to the water cooler station to get everyone’s opinion – as with all things food, it should make for an interesting debate! Ciao bella!
*excerpts from an article at the BBC Magazine
