Every day, employees and employers take for granted the quality of air that they breathe from heating, ventilation air conditioning(“HVAC”)
“Poor indoor air quality resulting from inadequate HVAC systems has been linked to a significant decline in worker productivity and an increase in health complaints. Specifically, about 20% of office workers reported experiencing respiratory issues and general discomfort related to suboptimal air quality.”
Source: Australian Government’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (2008)
“Our findings highlight that malfunctioning HVAC systems in public buildings often result in higher concentrations of indoor pollutants such as VOCs and PM2.5. This has been associated with increased absenteeism and reported health issues among occupants, with up to 18% of individuals experiencing noticeable symptoms”
Assessment of Indoor Air Quality in Australian Public Buildings. Source: Australian Environmental Protection Agency (2015)
Anecdotally, at LRM Global, we find that many organisations misguidedly assume that regular servicing of the HVAC systems does include treatment and rectification of any contamination build up in their HVAC systems. Often, this is not the case.
Generally, employees, employers, students, parents, building owners and/or managers are simply not aware of the deterioration that can occur in HVAC units of all shapes and sizes. Nor are they aware of the potential health consequences of their oversight.
Regularly, the effectiveness of climate control functionality, or otherwise, provides the main trigger initiating the need for servicing, and determining the scope of servicing that is required.
We assume that the air quality that we breathe in at our workplace is healthy.
The only way to assure your colleagues, visitors, and business leaders or landlords that air quality is conducive to optimum performance is ongoing indoor Air Quality Monitoring.
Ongoing indoor Air Quality Monitoring measures, assesses, reports on and responds to the quality of air being ingested by all members of your fraternity. Any abnormalities in air quality are outlined to the appropriate person in your organisation, inclusive of recommended rectification strategies.
It really is simple; the benefits of ongoing indoor Air Quality Monitoring are universal.
Workers (employees and employers):
- Peace of mind
- Increased health, welfare and vitality
- Increased productivity
- Increased engagement in the organisation and work environment
- Increased talent retention
- Increased sense of accomplishment
- Reduced absenteeism
- More positive culture
Business Managers and Owners:
- Peace of mind
- All the benefits of greater staff engagement
- Higher productivity and reduced costs
- Stronger organisational culture
- Risk mitigation / management
Landlords:
- Peace of mind
- Increased tenancy security – per individual tenant and entire property
- Increased rental potential
- Reduced litigious risk
- Access to improved insurance rate opportunities
- Risk mitigation / management
The solution is not a difficult consideration, protect your investment in staff, reputation and performance.
Prevent the problem by early monitoring or mitigate the issue by early identification and response initiatives – Both make sense.
Contact LRM Global, the specialists in Environmental and Industrial Hygiene Management, to guide your indoor Air Quality Monitoring initiatives or to assist you to optimise, design or implement your customer and staff health risk management strategies.
