Institution of Occupational Safety and Health challenges minister's claim about working from home

UK Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride has been quoted in The Times saying increases in people working from home - whether from garden offices are in the main body of the home - is causing a rise in those on long-term sickness.

In reply, here is what IOSH's Head of Policy Ruth Wilkinson said: 

“Good, well-managed work is vital for people’s health and wellbeing. For work to be ‘good’, it must be safe, healthy, supportive and accommodate people’s needs. Working from home can have many benefits for people, so simply labelling it as a factor behind increased long-term sickness is unhelpful, as the focus must be on the root cause of the long-term sickness if appropriate action is to be taken.

“For example, we should be seeking to ensure that working from home is managed properly, to prevent problems such as musculoskeletal disorders, isolation, long working hours, and so on. Businesses still have a duty of care to ensure the health and safety of their employees and that good risk management and assessment processes are in place, preventing harm and managing risks, just as they do in offices, factories and other workplaces.

“Considering mental health, risks can arise from poor work design, organisation and management as well as poor social context of work. Effective leadership, management of psychosocial risks, with a good culture, the right policies, and work environment, conditions and job design will all play a part in preventing harm and reducing risks to workers.

“If this is all in place, working from home can have significant benefits for individuals, including greater flexibility and work-life balance, something which can provide a positive return for a business.”

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Friday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information.

 

Boat shed sold for NZ$ 2m

If you think beach hut prices in the UK are getting a bit high, then how about this converted 1930s "boat shed" in Auckland, New Zealand which has just sold with Sotheby's for a touch over NZ$ 2m, which is roughly £962,000. Technically, it's a 'day bach' or holiday hut which means, as in the UK, no overnight stays and there's no bedroom, or lavatory, or indeed freehold possession, though on the upside it does have a wharf and absolutely splendid waterfront views towards Mount Hobson. Features include white tongue and groove interiors, roller door, large heaters and concealed winch in case you actually want to use it for your boat.

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Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional buildings.

Operation She Shed: Building a flatpack garden office

Here's one to keep an eye on, the first in an ongoing series by Caro Davies (who writes the The Listed Home, a British lifestyle blog) about building a flatpack garden office. The first post - Operation She Shed | #1 My Flatpack Garden Office - covers the whys and wherefores. Here's a snippet:

Now, if you’ve ever looked into garden offices, you’ll know that they come with a hefty price tag. For a decent sized building — and I wanted one at least 10 ft by 12 ft — they can start at a minimum of £3.5K and spiral upwards in cost from there. Good ones need insulating, lighting, heating.

We just didn’t have that kind of money to burn either so — after a lot of thought — we decided to go down the DIY route. So in December of last year — after much discussion — my boy and I decided to bite the bullet and buy a large shed, with the intention of turning it into a garden office.

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SMART designs and manufactures industry leading garden rooms from our very own Suffolk factory and installed all over mainland UK

Henry at Work: Thoreau on Making a Living

 

A new book out from Princeton University Press - Henry at Work - looks at the business side of the godfather of Shedworking, Henry David Thoreau, through the same kind of lens as those 'How the Art of War Can Make You a Better Manager' type books. Here's the bumph from the publisher:

Henry at Work invites readers to rethink how we work today by exploring an aspect of Henry David Thoreau that has often been overlooked: Thoreau the worker. John Kaag and Jonathan van Belle overturn the popular misconception of Thoreau as a navel-gazing recluse who was scornful of work and other mundanities. In fact, Thoreau worked hard—surveying land, running his family’s pencil-making business, writing, lecturing, and building his cabin at Walden Pond—and thought intensely about work in its many dimensions. And his ideas about work have much to teach us in an age of remote work and automation, when many people are reconsidering what kind of working lives they want to have.

Through Thoreau, readers will discover a philosophy of work in the office, factory, lumber mill, and grocery store, and reflect on the rhythms of the workday, the joys and risks of resigning oneself to work, the dubious promises of labor-saving technology, and that most vital and eternal of philosophical questions, “How much do I get paid?” In ten chapters, including “Manual Work,” “Machine Work,” and “Meaningless Work,” this personal, urgent, practical, and compassionate book introduces readers to their new favorite coworker: Henry David Thoreau.

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Malvern Garden Buildings offer a premium collection of garden buildings, displayed at 11 UK showsites.

 

Paint Your Shed Kit

Leading paint brand Colourtrend's selection of paint offers endless possibilities when it comes to transforming the look of your garden office, with a specially designated Paint Your Shed Kit. It comes with a choice of 10 colours and features Wood Coat, which has an extremely durable, low-sheen finish, and is specifically for timber sheds plus pressure treated wood. The kit contains:

• One three litre tin of Wood Coat (in your chosen colour)
• paint brush
• mini roller kit
  
• sanding block and paper
  
• can operner
  
• lint-free cloth
  
• Colourtrend gift bag

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  Monday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, contemporary living spaces offering premium quality, bespoke buildings without the hefty price tag

 

Shedfest 2023

ShedFest 2023, the UK Men’s Sheds Association annual celebration of Men’s Sheds and Shedders across the UK, is nearly upon us, this time round with an expanded exhibition, demonstrations, and workshops offering.

The exhibition opens at 9am, with a welcome at 10am and ends at 4pm. The UK Men’s Sheds Association’s AGM will be held in the afternoo.

Tickets for the gathering on July 13 at Worcester University Area are free and include lunch sponsored by Carveco. Book your tickets here. 

Here's what the organisers say about it:

A chance to meet up with Shedders from across the UK, exchange banter, advice about tools and running Sheds, and attend some great talks including ‘Finding funding for your Shed’, and ‘The Role of Trustees’, and ‘Cancer Awareness’ presented by Cancer Research UK and more. We’ll also have live demonstrations from Axminster Tools too for those of you looking for more practical creative advice.
It’s shaping up to be the biggest ever exhibition hall with over 25 partners, including Ronseal, Tite-Fix, Metalcraft, Lumberjack, Carveco, St John Ambulance, Tackle Prostate Cancer, Silvertime Legal, Cancer Research UK, Paul Burton Sculptures and more. Again this year, there will be a space for Sheds to bring their creations, and there will be prizes provided by Onduline of £100 Wickes vouchers for the best turned item, and the best utensil.

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Friday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information.

 

Garden gym

A nice little garden gym recently completed by Garden Spaces which comes in at 3m x 2.95m x 2.5m, built in a small garden close to bounaries. Features include:

• aluminium French doors with full length fixed window 
• flat roof skylight
• aminate flooring 
• external finish in RHS Western Red Cedar oiled with Liberon Superior Danish oil to help arrest the silvering process due to UV degradation
• small area of composite decking in Charcoal Black with low maintenance and non-slip

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  Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional buildings.

Basebox garden pod

Basebox is a new garden pod from Green Retreats. It comes in 10 different size configurations, from 2.4m x 2.4m to 4.8m x 3.6m. Features include French or sliding doors and oak, white or grey flooring, plus uPVC door and window options, and a selection of paint colours. They also offer a configurator gadget on the website so you can play around with the spec until you are happy.

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SMART designs and manufactures industry leading garden rooms from our very own Suffolk factory and installed all over mainland UK

Garden office commute

How about this as your journey to work? It's a shot by awardwinning garden designed Martyn Wilson on a recent revisit to check on how a previous project near Malvern has been progressing. "Loving the vibrant colourful flower meadow on our clients' commute to the garden office," he says. So are we.

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Malvern Garden Buildings offer a premium collection of garden buildings, displayed at 11 UK showsites.

Friday Finery: The Queen's beach hut

This week's entry is Queen Elizabeth II's pine beach hut, a short distance from the sea at Holkham in Norfolk (close to Sandringham) which featured double front doors and a brick chimney stack. It was also a favourite spot of the Queen Mother's (she walked the corgis on the sand) and Prince Philip's (he barbecued on the verandah and spent the occasional night in its bunkbeds). It sadly burnt down after an arson attack in summer 2003.

Image by Roger Bailey used under this Creative Commons Licence

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Friday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information.

 

 

Garden office with remarkable green roof and walls

One of the loveliest photos of a garden office we've seen for many a month. This beauty is the work of living roof, wall and general green infrastructure experts Pritchard & Pritchard who say about it: "A garden office shrouded in the most fantastic coat of plants from roof to wall! We have had huge pleasure creating this oasis - it would fit well into 'The Shire' in Lord of the Rings!" 

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Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional buildings.

 

Shed of the Year: The Tea House

Over the next month we're going to be taking regular looks at what the Shedworking staff feel are the finest sheds among the finalists in this year's Shed of the Year competition. First up is The Tea Shed, owned by Peter Lawson from Bristol, shortisted in the Simple But Effective category. The 7ft x 5ft Japanese Tea Room is made largely from recycled materials (including an old playhouse) and free finds such as discarded fencing. 

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SMART designs and manufactures industry leading garden rooms from our very own Suffolk factory and installed all over mainland UK

Finalists shortlist for Shed of the Year announced

The shortlist for Cuprinol Shed of the Year 2023 has been announced with 26 contenders for this year's trophy, £1,000 in cash and £250 worth of Cuprinol products. Among them is shedworking setup The Pamper Cabin, pictured above, a beauty treatment business run by Laura O'Mahony from Dorset. Other favourites among the Shedworking staff are The Frankenshed (below) owned by artist Archie Proudfoot in London:

and the Golden Behinde (below) built by Harry Scott in Suffolk for his grandchildren who are big fans of Francis Drake's iconic Golden Hinde:

Head Judge and Founder of the competition, Uncle Wilco, said: “We’re now in the 17th year of the competition, and each year I am always surprised and delighted by the level of creativity shown by our entrants. It’s incredible what can be done to create a beautiful shed for as little as £150. The new categories have also opened the door to some of the competition’s most colourful creations. It really is too close to call this year. I’d be happy to see any of them win!”
 
Marianne Shillingford, Creative Director at Cuprinol, added: “We’re thrilled to see so many sheds taking inspiration from last year’s winner, Kelly Haworth’s Potting Shed. It’s incredible to see such masterpieces made from reclaimed materials - making small garden improvements really can make such a huge difference regardless of budget.
 
“Equally, we have seen a lot of people go all out with the creation of gorgeous garden escapes for them and their family. I will always advocate for bringing more colour into both indoor and outdoor living spaces. I am constantly in awe of how these sheddies harness their creativity in so many unique ways, to design the perfect garden retreats.”
 
Entrants had the opportunity to enter two new categories this year – Simple but Effective and Colourful – as well as the usual Budget, Cabin/Summerhouse, Nature’s Haven, Pub/Entertainment, Unexpected/Unique and Workshop/Studio classifications.

Public voting for this year’s competition is open now and will run until 13th July 2023. To find out more about each finalist, and cast your vote, go to readersheds.co.uk 

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Malvern Garden Buildings offer a premium collection of garden buildings, displayed at 11 UK showsites.

 

Garden offices with waterless toilets

A common wail on Twitter comes from people who are trapped in their garden office by heavy rain but are keen to visit the powder room in their home (not this week, obvs). So this is just a reminder that it's easy to install waterless toilets in your work building - these are more convenient than traditional ones since plumbing is not required, they are cost effective, and they are not huge. The modern ones don't smell either. Here are some examples above of woowoowaterless toilets installed in Garden2Office builds.

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Monday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, contemporary living spaces offering premium quality, bespoke buildings without the hefty price tag

Britain's Best Beach Huts coming to Channel 4

Channel 4 has commissioned Welsh independent production companyYeti to make Britain’s Best Beach Huts. This new property design series sees craftsman Jay Blades (The Repair Shop, Money for Nothing, Would I Lie To You?) and interior design specialist Laura Jackson (The Great Big Tiny Design Challenge, Ready or Not, Take Me Out: The Gossip) hunting for the most unexpected gems across Britain’s coastline.

These beautiful little buildings are a staple of the British seaside and with more than 20,000 of them dotted across our coastline and clifftops, their variety is as staggering as their number. Each week Jay and Laura battle it out to see who can find the ultimate beach hut on a specific theme, from 1940s time capsules to double-decker luxury. The duo find themselves in the country’s most stunning and far-flung locations in a series that celebrates the wonders of our coastline and its residents with a surprise behind every door.

Sian Price, Creative Director at Yeti: said: “Beach huts have always been a classic element of British beaches but have never fully been explored on television until now. I think viewers will be surprised and delighted in equal measure by their beauty and quirkiness.”

Clemency Green, Senior Commissioning Editor at Channel 4 added: “In this inspiring new series from Yeti Jay and Laura unearth some incredible design secrets in these pocket-sized properties. From high-tech renovations to eccentric family hideaways, the series shows that with good design size really doesn’t matter.”

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Friday posts are sponsored by Warwick Buildings, manufacturers of outstanding quality timber buildings. Click here for more information.

 

The best plants for your mental health in your garden office

We regularly remind shedworkers that having plants in your garden office can be helpful in keeping you happy and healthy, reducing stress and generally pepping us up. Jenny Berger, a Post-Doctoral Researcher in the School of Built Environment at the University of Reading, has an interesting article on this subject ('Owning houseplants can boost your mental health – here’s how to pick the right one') following her recent research into this area.

In brief, the results indicated:

-  pothos, weeping fig (pictured above) and palm are ideal choices

- in general, plants with lots of large and lush green leaves plus dense canopies offer particular benefits

- it's a good idea to pick plants that are easy to look after, like a spider plant.

- plants like pothos with rounded rather than jagged leaves are more relaxing

- calming effects are associated with plants that are appealing enough to attract your attention but not with overly exhuberant colours or pattersn

- a single nice houseplant may be better than cramming your garden office with loads which can be a distraction

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Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional buildings.

Garden building earthworks uncover oldest decoratively carved wood in Britain

 

A large piece of wood discovered by chance, lying in peat in excellent condition during the construction of a workshop in Boxford, Berkshire, has been identified by Historic England as being more than 6,000 years old, making it the oldest decoratively carved wood in Britain.

The piece of waterlogged carved oak is a metre long, 0.42m wide and 0.2m thick and was discovered by landowner Derek Fawcett during groundworks for the building of a workshop. It was found 1.5m below the surface in a layer of peat which can preserve organic materials like wood over thousands of years because the normal processes of decay are slowed due to a lack of oxygen.

The timber was removed and later that day it was cleaned and found to have some markings that did not appear to be natural.

The purpose of the markings on this piece of timber is not known, but they are reminiscent of the decoration seen in early Neolithic pottery and are also believed to be similar to the body decoration on the Shigir Idol, a wooden sculpture found in the Ural Mountains of Russia which, at over 12,000 years old, is believed to be the oldest example of carved wood in the world.

It is now being conserved at Historic England’s science facility in Fort Cumberland in Portsmouth. Pictured below (courtesy Historic England) is  Judith Dobie, Archaeological Illustrator at Historic England, tracing the markings on the Boxford Timber.

"It was a rather surprising find at the bottom of a trench dug for foundations for a new building," said M Fawcett, a retired urological surgeon. "It was clearly very old and appeared well preserved in peat. After hosing it down, we saw that it had markings that appeared unnatural and possibly man-made."

It is 500 years older than the only other known decoratively carved timber in Britain, discovered near Maerdy in Wales, which dates to the Late Mesolithic/Early Neolithic period (around 4270 to 4000 BC).

Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of Historic England, said: “It’s remarkable that by doing routine building work, a piece of modest-looking decorative wood turns out to be the oldest ever found in Britain. Amazing discoveries like these remind us of the power of archaeology to uncover the hidden narratives that connect us to our roots.”

Mr Fawcett has donated the timber to the West Berkshire Museum in Newbury where it will eventually go on display. 

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SMART designs and manufactures industry leading garden rooms from our very own Suffolk factory and installed all over mainland UK