Code of Practice for IAQ in the Workplace-two months on
This applies to your workplace.
You would be forgiven for not knowing what that was if you didn’t follow someone like me.
Just over two months ago, Ireland's Health and Safety Authority launched the new code of practice with a whimper.
Two months on, you would do well to find anything about it unless you directly typed it into Google. No press release, coverage or anything else other than a few companies like Air Quality Matters, trying to raise awareness.
With all that we have been through over the last few years and the ever-increasing awareness of health and well-being and indoor air quality in the workplace, I would have expected more—a chance for those responsible for our environmental and occupational health to raise the bar.
It is, after all, a very good document considering this is the first one of its type. It's practical, not over-complicated, informative, and, if followed, will improve workplace outcomes.
Having completed a handful of risk assessments in various workplaces since its release, I wanted to give some initial insight on what to expect.
Context
Your building does not sit in isolation. You will have to consider whether it is close to potential pollution sources and in a radon area. You may need to conduct a Radon test (very cheap) and, depending on the location of the nearest air quality station, conduct some basic air quality monitoring.
The age of the building will have a bearing on the likelihood of asbestos and how changes in layouts over the years may have interfered with airflow.
Layouts and zoning and occupancy
One of the first tasks is to determine what is considered an occupied space and its use. Is it a small meeting room, a board room, an open plan area etc? In large open-plan areas, are there zones within that space? This is all mostly common sense.
How many people typically use that space, and do you need to account for peak use?
Ventilation
You will need to determine in the first instance if the building is ventilated solely mechanically, or is it naturally ventilated or a mixture of both.
The reason is, is your next steps will be determined by the answers.
Mechanically ventilated
You need to understand if each of the zones you have determined as occupied is being supplied with enough ventilation. How much is normally determined by how many people use it or how big it is. But typical in most workspaces, around 8-10 litres a second per person.
If you do not have a report within the last couple of years showing that these flow rates are being met, you will need to ask a professional ventilation company to determine that for you.
Alternatively, you may look to monitor the indoor air quality; more on that next.
Naturally ventilated spaces or hybrids of mechanical and natural
The challenge with naturally ventilated spaces or spaces that rely on an amount of natural ventilation to support mechanical systems is that you can't precisely measure a flow rate, and even if you could, it changes from minute to minute.
That is why in these circumstances, it is suggested that you monitor the air to help users of that space or those managing it make informed decisions on when to increase or decrease ventilation in the space. (usually by window opening)
In plain English, if the ventilation in your office is by windows, then the only way you will know if the air quality is deteriorating is by something telling you.
What next
There are some other considerations, for example, materials and products that might contribute to poor air quality, but in effect, once you have the flow rates or air quality information, you are then in a position to understand if there is a gap between what you should have and what you have now.
This is, basically, risk assessment 101
You can then determine the most appropriate controls to manage the risk.
The challenge
From what I have seen so far, almost no one has a report that tells them the ventilation system's performance, so the first thing to check is if you have one, and if not, who will do it and how much it will cost.
You can't manage what you don't measure.
Alternatively, you can measure the air quality and use this information to guide you. But it needs to be done correctly and with some experience and thought.
Either way, there is likely to be some work to bring workplaces to where they need to be; the risk assessment is the first step in this process. In my experience, many will have a lot to do, as ventilation has largely been run to failure.
If you would like help understanding how to conduct a risk assessment of the workplace or guidance on what to do next, please don't hesitate to reach out. Drop onto https://www.airqualitymatters.net/code-of-practice-for-indoor-air-quality for more information, or DM me.