Your Office May Have a Bad Air Quality and Here’s How You Find Out

Posted by Keith Shaw on September 26th, 2019

Introduction

Pollution has taken over the world by storm. Even though Toronto isn’t as bad when it comes to comparing its AQI with the rest of the world, as it generally stays below average, which is a good thing, relatively. Anyway, that pollution is something that you have on the outside, but there is something that is being overlooked right now - Health and Safety at the office.

Of course I’m not talking about the Bhopal Gas Tragedy or the Seveso Disaster here because they are really extreme examples pertaining to a very specific industry. I’m talking one major factor that goes across all industries, which is the Air Quality at your office. A bad air quality could range from frequent sickness to some serious health hazards. But how would you know whether your office has a good air quality or not? Let’s find out.

Top 3 Signs That Indicate a Bad Air Quality in Your Office

Sign#1 - You Get Sleepy as the Day Progresses

Don’t disregard it as something so trivial like you’re bound to fall asleep because you have been working for 8 hours everyday. You could also sense it when you feel stuffed or trapped, and that feeling is pretty accurate since it is caused by lack of ventilation, which accumulates carbon dioxide in the room. Even though it is not a harmful gas but its accumulation in large quantities can cause dizziness, headaches, or puking sensations.

Sign#2 - The Thermostat is Set to “Auto” 

This doesn’t seem so harmless. If it were so, why would a company even design it like that? Right? Well, the problem is not the way it is manufactured or tweaked, but because of the fact that the “auto” feature is not meant to be run during working hours. If it is set on “auto”, it’s only going to operate when the system detects that the air is hotter or colder. The rest of the time it doesn’t let any fresh air in, which is yet another problem.

Sign#3 - Itchy/ Watery Eyes/ Throat Irritation

Before you think that this is exclusively a reaction to something happening at the office, I’d like to acknowledge that this could very well be an allergic response to something. So, before you accuse your office of not being properly sanitised, get yourself checked for allergies. If that’s not the case and the symptoms don’t seem to go away, then it could because of ultra fine particles that are released from various office equipment such as printers, fax machines, or even from the cooking appliances.

Key Takeaway

Even though you may use these signs to assess the air quality on your own, but it still wouldn’t be an accurate guess as to what’s actually causing it. You may get accidentally close to detecting it (by having to get sick yourself) but you still wouldn’t have any equipment to measure this. If you make a call on conducting an office air quality inspection, you will not only have a detailed list of causes, but will also get a customized solution for your office space.