The UK is currently in breach of air pollution standards set by the European Commission after the Government did not bring nitrogen dioxide (NO2) within the recommended safe limits.
Whilst this breach relates to outdoor pollutants, there is an obvious knock-on effect to the quality of the air indoors and specifically inside an office.
Pollutants in the air we breathe can be potentially very harmful to health, especially respiratory issues including asthma and can cause an increased risk of cancer.
The health and environmental impacts are a huge primary concern of air pollution. But also for businesses, such as problems of employee absenteeism and reduced productivity.
Workplace air pollution will vary depending on your office building, its location and the work you carry out; essentially in a ‘regular’ office environment you’ll experience similar air quality issues to that of your home. According to Clean Air Day research, we spend over 90% of our time indoors, so the potential impact on our health is huge.
Sources include: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). These are found in building products, chipboard furniture and carpets, office equipment such as printers create emissions, plus fumes produced from heating and cooling systems.
Other causes include biological pollutants such as the damp and mould, dust from dirty office environments and bacterial build-ups from lack of cleaning and sanitising in the office. Conversely, over-using cleaning products (non environmentally friendly products) will also emit chemicals into the air.
Many air quality issues will be apparent through the presence of unpleasant odours, mould and dust in the air or a feeling that the office is uncomfortably hot and stuffy.
There are tests that your facilities management team can carry out to measure carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, the air temperature, airflow and humidity.
Regular maintenance and inspections of the ventilation systems, as well as, the heating and cooling systems in the office should give an early indication of potential problems.
If staff members are complaining of headaches and tiredness that they don’t experience outside of the office then this could be an indicator that there’s an air pollution problem.
Office Managers need to be aware that office environments are regulated by COSHH standards.
This includes legal standards for chemicals and dusts in workplace air. Although these standards predominantly address industrial environments rather than office space.
In your Kampala office block, you of
course can’t throw the windows open. (With the peak air pollution problems you
probably wouldn’t want to).
However, the Office Manager
can ensure that the Facilities Management team regularly clean and maintain the
ventilation systems for the office.
Filters on the heating and
cooling systems must be regularly cleaned or replaced also.
Installing air purification
systems could help your office environment if it is particularly bad.
Or if you are experiencing a
high percentage of ill health amongst the workers.
In accordance with the
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations, regular
assessments must be carried out to ensure substances in the air are not
breaching safe levels.
The hazardous substances
included within the COSHH guidelines include, chemicals, fumes and dust.
In a recent interview with
Stuart Hardman, the Nk Clean Company
Health & Safety Consultant, we learned of changes to CLP Regulations for
the classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals and substances.
Risk assessments have been
carried out for each and every chemical product that Nk Clean Company use.
We’ve looked at the
associated risks with them for example, absorption into the skin or inhalation.
Then we recommended how to protect the cleaning operatives from these.
This includes, with personal
protective equipment (PPE) and clothing, for example, or switching to less
harmful chemicals.
In another informative Nk cleaning companyy blog, we detail how to
choose environmentally friendly office furniture including office equipment and
products with low or no VOCs.
VOCs are often located in the
materials of the furniture itself, or the within the chemicals used during
production.
The smell of a new piece of
office furniture’s fabric is often due to VOCs for example.
Manufacturers who don’t use
VOC’s in their furniture production are not only more environmentally friendly.
But also the products will be better for the air quality in the office.
Examples include DASBF and Elite Furniture.
Regular and thorough office
cleaning and sanitising maintains a clean and hygienic environment.
Bacteria, dust, pollen and
mould spread rapidly through an office if left unsanitised and untreated.
We provide tailor-made office cleaning solutions
for businesses. Particularly for working around your organisation to minimise
disruption to your company. Whilst helping you maximise a healthy and clean
working environment.
Our commercial cleaning services
include daily office cleaning, deep cleans and specialist office equipment
cleaning.
Nk Cleaning Services also
offers flexible and affordable green cleaning solutions to all our
clients across Kampala, following rigorous environmental standards according to
our ISO 14001:2015 certification.
We offer an environmentally
friendly cleaning option using EvansVanodine products which carry a W.E.I.R.
Green Tick for their environmental impact rating.
These products are excellent
for producing quality cleaning results whilst minimising their impact on the
environment.
The less harmful a cleaning
product is to the environment, the less harmful it is to the people using it.
The W.E.I.R. (The Wright Environmental Impact
Rating) Tick uses seven criteria to determine a products impact on the
environment. This includes the risk of release to the environment and impact of
usage.
All plants will take in
carbon dioxide and release oxygen. There are some plants that also have the
ability to remove dangerous toxins and air pollutants.
These include, benzene,
formaldehyde, ammonia and even mould spores.
And according to research carried out by NASA, they found the
most beneficial plants to keep in outer space to do exactly this.
This Clean Air Day, explore what
your organisation could be doing to help improve the air quality in your
office.
Speak
to us at Nk Cleaning Services for a quality, efficient and professional
office cleaning service.
Office Cleaning in Kampala
P.O.Box 126124, Kampala 2nd Floor, Office No. 1, King Fahad Plaza, Kampala Road, Uganda NKC1X 8UE 0756 568 928Office Cleaning in Jinja
Swift House River Way Source, Cafe NKC20 2DW 0764 575362
