Chances are, you’ve heard the term “Work Safe” thrown around your office when talking about email.  What does this mean? 

To begin, I’ll define the context in which you probably heard it used. “Work Safe” is usually used in the context of personal email received in a work account.  This could be email forwards from your friends (which are usually pretty rampant), or any other email that contain non-work related information.  Most of the time, you are not the only one in the office, so a “Work Safe” email can be defined as an email that is able to be read by you at work without having to scurry to close a browser window, run to turn down the sound, or even shut your laptop down to stop the display on your screen.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that the email doesn’t contain something that could cause these actions; it just means that you knew that there might be problems before you opened the email, so you took the necessary precautions (headphones, etc.).

It is a good rule to follow when sending personal email to label it “Work Safe” or “Non-Work Safe” before you send it out.  This can save your friends a lot of embarrassment and possibly even save their jobs if the wrong person is walking by when they open the email.  You should always place this in the subject of the email, so your audience doesn’t have to actually open the email to find out.  ALWAYS specify if something may not be appropriate for work, I’ve seen people get into a lot of trouble for this kind of thing.  Even if you just send a link, make sure before you forward it on that you know if your friends are safe to open it.

Overall, if your email is not “Work Safe”, you probably should be sending to a personal account instead of a work account anyways.  However, if you are going to send it, make sure to be specific as to what the email contains.  This can save embarrassment, friendships, and even jobs (usually all of the above).