These days almost every desk carries a telephone and at least one computer screen, and often a good deal more. That means power, data and telephone cables running onto and inside the desk, and for most businesses that has quietly become a real problem. A tangle of cables under and around desking does not just look untidy, it is a genuine health and safety risk.
The good news is that it is easy to fix. Below we walk through the main options for getting cabling under control, from the point services enter the building right through to the desktop itself.
1. Getting power, data and telephone to the desk
The first job is bringing services from the wall or floor to the desking system. There are a few tidy ways to do this:
Floor boxes can be specified with any combination of power, telephone and IT outlets, giving a neat, direct connection into the desk.
Through floor grommets are a low cost way of passing power, telephone and IT cables from underfloor connections up into the desking system.
Skirting and dado trunking is ideal where raised access floors are not available, allowing low cost distribution of cabling right around the office.
2. Cable management through the desking
Once services reach the desk, you want the cables carried around the workstation out of sight. Options here include:
In desk vertical cable management, integrated into the desking system so cables travel invisibly from the floor to the underside of the desk.
A vertical cable spine, fixed to the underside of the desk to carry cables neatly up from the floor.
A solid tray containment system, a metal tray that gives you a large capacity for carrying cables horizontally along the desking.
A wire cable containment basket, a lower cost method of running cables horizontally through the desking system.
3. Power, data and telephone connections on the desk
Next, you need to bring those services to a usable point at each workstation:
In desk modules are a low cost way to provide outlets within the desk, built to any combination you specify, and simple to install and reconfigure.
On desk modules clamp to the desktop with the same flexibility as an in desk unit.
Through desk flip top units give easy access to power and data, then hide the connections away when they are not in use.
On desk grommets sit flush with the desktop for very simple, everyday access.
4. Access onto the desktop
Finally, the point where cables meet the work surface:
A flip up lid runs the full length of the desk, giving easy access to the horizontal cable channel underneath and somewhere to dump excess cable out of sight.
A simple grommet is a low cost way to bring cables up onto the desktop from below.
5. Monitor arms
Monitor arms free up desk space and let staff set their screen exactly where they want it:
Single desk mounted arms offer full adjustment for height, angle and tilt, and can be positioned anywhere along the desk.
Dual desk mounted arms give the same adjustability for two screens side by side.
Single screen mounted arms attach to the screen itself, freeing up even more of the desktop.
6. CPU holders
Getting the computer itself off the floor keeps cables tidy and cleaning easy:
Under desk slide and rotate holders suspend the CPU beneath the work surface and swivel for access to the front and back.
CPU holders on wheels stay mobile so the machine can move anywhere around the workstation.
Thin client holders mount a small CPU behind the monitor, keeping the desktop completely clear.
A quick word on safety: BS6396
When it comes to desk power modules, there are rules worth knowing. Under BS6396, outlet sockets should be individually fused, and the maximum number of outlets from a single 13A wall or floor supply is six, in any combination of daisy chained modules. One to four outlets can be fused at 5A; with five or six outlets, all must be fused at a maximum of 3.15A. Any appliance drawing above 5A must be supplied from a separate wall or floor outlet, not through the desk power system. It is the kind of detail that is easy to overlook and important to get right, which is exactly where good advice pays off.
Ready to tidy up?
A tidier desk is a safer, more professional desk, and it is more straightforward to achieve than most people expect. If you would like a free consultation on the best cable management options for your workspace, get in touch with Office Interiors Solutions on 02890 770019 or email pauline@officeinteriorsolutions.com.