'People have a greater expectation for good indoor air quality'
While more employees shuffle back into offices long-closed through the pandemic, indoor air quality is becoming a top concern.
Almost three-quarters (74 per cent) of 3,000 people surveyed in Canada and the U.S., between Dec. and Jan., said they feel nervous when entering places with poor air quality, according to a survey by Ambius, a company that designs indoor workspaces.
“It really probably should have been a concern for everybody before but now, it’s definitely highlighted since the pandemic; we really see people having a greater expectation, if not a demand, for [good] indoor air quality,” says Matt Hayas, director of product and innovation, hygiene and wellbeing at Ambius in Cincinnati.
“As you go into the office or you go into a hotel or a restaurant, you expect to be safe, and you want to feel safe in that place and we know that one of the ways that you can do that is through improving that indoor air quality.”
Retention considerations
The Ambius survey also found that 69 per cent of workers felt their workplaces need more investment spending on health, hygiene and safety. And 76 per cent of workers would leave their current jobs if they felt their employer cared little about their health.
It’s thinking like this that illustrates just how much has changed in terms of indoor environments, says Hayas.
“Whether it’s more nervous, more aware, more demanding… definitely, we all want to know and see that our employer is taking our health and safety as a top priority. We do place probably even greater importance than we did previously on a clean, healthy environment and, particularly, healthy air before the pandemic started so there’s just higher expectations all around and people are sensitive to those environments that have poor indoor air quality.”
In a survey of more than 500 professionals in Canada, more than half (53 per cent) of those currently working from home would look for a new job with remote options if their company wanted them back at the office five days a week.
Measuring, ventilating for improved health
These days, there is a lot more information and research on how the COVID-19 virus spreads and how ventilation impacts the spread of viruses, says Riane Marrs, OHS technical writer for the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) in Hamilton.
“So, concerns like ventilation and indoor air quality are certainly on the radar more but in combination with layering other public health measures and good indoor air ventilation, it can decrease the concentration of aerosols that could be suspended in the air and that can help reduce the spread of COVID-19.”
To alleviate these concerns, employers should undertake an assessment before deciding what needs to be done to improve the air quality, says Hayas.
“The best thing is have an air hygiene expert conduct a risk assessment, so go in and determine the high-risk areas, open areas that may require an increased need for air hygiene and that may include things like increasing the number of air exchanges in a space, improving the type of filtration potential to move out some of those particles. And it may be adding something like a portable air purification unit to high-use areas, whether it’s meeting rooms or break rooms, or even offices, as well to address local air quality concerns.”
In addition to adding more filters and overhauling HVAC systems, there are natural methods that can be explored, such as plants and open windows, according to Hayas.
“Outdoor conditions are going to dictate that and some of the environmental conditions will dictate that as well but it’s a simple way, it’s an easy way to introduce some outdoor air into your indoor space. You allow that fresh air to flow inside, it helps to increase the air exchange rate and it dilutes some of the human- and environment-generated air pollutants.”
Volatile organic compounds can be 10 to 20 times greater inside than outside, found another study.
By adding more plants to the workplace, their effects are multiple, he says.
“We’ve always said plants, particularly green walls, they do have an ability to remove some pollutants from the air. In particular, they can remove carbon dioxide from the air and we know through various studies that increases in carbon dioxide can have an impact on fatigue and concentration and productivity in general so having plants and green walls in a space can certainly help alleviate some of those issues.”
Many factors go into good air quality, according to another expert.
New type of wellness
While many workplaces don’t necessarily have indoor air quality as part of their overall wellness package, now is a good time to start, says Hayas.
“I would say it’s probably not normal yet; it certainly is something that should be in place. Employees are looking for things like those intangible benefits… but it’s also for businesses,” he says, citing statistics from the Indoor Air Hygiene Institute that found the impact of poor indoor air quality on the economy was about $10 billion annually.
Since many workers are slowly going into the workplace, that has been abandoned in some case for more than two years, a careful look around the workplace may be warranted beforehand, says Marrs.
“Another really helpful tool is workplace inspections so any potential sources of mold or dust should be inspected and corrected. Especially if there hasn’t been any access to the office in a while and this could be removing dead plants, vacuuming, wiping dusting surfaces, increasing ventilation and checking the registers making sure there’s nothing blocking those air vents, removing materials that have an odour, or anything else noted throughout the inspection of the workplace.”
HR leaders can also look to policy documents and guidelines, says Marrs, as “some individuals may also be more sensitive to indoor air contaminants, even at very low concentrations, and these are usually referred to as chemical sensitivities.”
“Things like scent-free policies, it’s very important because some people are more susceptible to those when they have more adverse health effects from it,” she says.
