7 Ways to Help Your Staff Breathe Clean Air and Watch Productivity Rise

In the workplace, you expect a certain level of productivity from your employees. When productivity levels fall, it’s only natural to wonder why so that you can fix the issue. Sometimes it has to do with the air quality inside the workplace. Read on to learn seven ways to help your staff in Durham, NC, breathe clean air and to watch productivity rise.

Change Air Filters

Air filters remove dust, dirt and other indoor pollutants from the air in your commercial building. However, air filters need changing regularly. Not only for the health of your employees but also for the efficacy of your HVAC system.

Clogged air filters cause your system to work harder. As a result, it increases the risk of breakdowns and repairs. It’s better for the health of your employees when you change your air filters every month. By doing so, you’ll ensure they won’t inhale as many particles of dust, dirt and other pollutants. These cause illness and trigger allergies and asthma.

Control Moisture

Controlling moisture and humidity within your facility greatly improves productivity and maintains the health of your employees. Aside from moisture buildup affecting the integrity of your roof, ceilings and plumbing, it can have a negative impact on the office environment.

Higher levels of moisture allowbacteria and other contaminants to grow and thrive. In turn, the contaminants become airborne, affecting everyone who breathes inside the building.

Improve Ventilation

Ventilation is a must when it comes to improving worker productivity and making sure your employees stay healthy. Ventilation is one of the nine foundations of a healthy building.

Studies show there’s a direct relationship between an employee’s ability to make decisions and process information and the amount of ventilation their workspace receives. Building owners reduced ventilation in the 1900s in an attempt to conserve energy. But led to indoor pollution buildup and sick building syndrome.

Maintain Temperature

Believe it or not, the temperatures inside can also affect indoor air quality. The temperatures within a building play a role in symptoms associated with sick building syndrome. If the temperature inside the workplace is too cold, even by half a degree, this affects productivity. The same goes for temperatures too high or too low for comfort.

For maximized productivity, the temperature within the workplace should be between 70 and 73 degrees. While some workers might wish the temperature were higher or lower, it’s best to keep it in this ideal range.

Manage VOCs

VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, have a significant impact on indoor air quality, affecting the health of all employees. Many materials emit these compounds, including surface cleaners, dry-erase markers and perfumes.

VOCs can cause conditions including shortness of breath, headaches, irritation of the nose and tdamage to the liver and kidneys. To help reduce employee exposure to VOCs, don’t allow smoking near the entrances of the building. Also, minimize the use of aerosol deodorizers, including incense and candles.

Air-Cleaning Plants

Aside from providing a bit of color to the workspace, plants reduce noise levels, help increase relative humidity and clean indoor air. Indoor plants also help with mental health, increasing employee well-being and lowering their stress levels.

Examples of indoor plants that enhance indoor air quality include Chinese Evergreen, English Ivy and Warneck Dracaena. The first of these, also known as Dracaena reflexa, combats pollutants. English Ivy reduces airborne fecal matter and other particulates, and Chinese Evergreen removes toxins from the air.

Radon and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Radon and carbon monoxide greatly impact the health and well-being of employees. It’s a colorless, odorless and naturally occurring radioactive gas whose particulates lodge in the lining of the lungs, damaging the cells of the lungs and leading to cancer. Proper ventilation, as well as having detectors for both of these gases, helps everyone breathe a little easier.

Not every threat to indoor air quality has a smell, but the effects are noticeable in several other ways. Contact Warren-Hay Mechanical today for our expertise in identifying threats to the indoor air quality of your workplace.

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