10.01.2019
Here are 6 Poor Air Quality Symptoms in Your Workplace
No matter whether you work away in an office cubicle, oversee a production floor at a factory, or otherwise, there is no denying the importance of clean, healthy air. If there are poor air quality symptoms within your workplace, however, they may present themselves in forms you aren’t expecting — sometimes breathing problems aren’t the only red flag! Today, let’s go over some examples to help you more accurately identify and address problem areas.
Damage to Materials
Many materials, such as woods, tend to be more easily damaged by imbalanced relative humidity. From warping to cracks, fractures, chips, sags, and more, this damage can present itself in a myriad of ways depending on what the material is made of. Proper humidity control can ensure reduced product and material wastage by regulating temperatures and air moisture content, enhanced further when complemented with evaporative cooling technology.
Poor-Quality Adhesion
Does your business specialize in adhering materials together, performing coatings, or other air-sensitive tasks such as paint spraying? If so, check your adhesion strength. If there is separation or a lack of consistency, it could represent inadequate air moisture content and temperature for this kind of work. Other poor air quality symptoms include paint coatings that are uneven or inadequate despite the best intentions of your workers.
Increased Absenteeism
Have you noticed more employees calling in sick and feeling unwell? This is usually the strongest indicator that workplace air quality needs improvement. It is more difficult for ill workers to recover and do their best on the job in an environment that doesn’t allow their immune systems the chance to recover adequately, which is what happens when we work in areas with overly low or high relative humidity. This imbalance leads to reduced air quality, putting more strain on our lung, heart, and immune system while also allowing for infectious airborne bacteria to travel more freely through the area.
Inconsistent Quality Control
If you’re in a commercial or industrial application, you already know that quality control is everything when it comes to reducing overhead and maximizing profit potential. That said, one of the most significant poor air quality symptoms is whether your products or material quality is inconsistent. The more erratic and uncontrollable it is, the larger the problem. Materials such as various woods and products such as baked bread require very specific air quality parameters to be met. Therefore, if you’re noticing a lot of wastage and reduced profit, the first thing you should check is your relative humidity and indoor temperature.
Electrostatic Shocks
Are you noticing employees getting zapped by electric static shocks? Or, have you seen computer equipment losing data or being damaged internally from static build-up? This is a red flag that indicates low relative humidity, representing air that isn’t hydrated enough to prevent electrostatic from charging up and arcing. Proper humidity control and evaporative cooling are the keys to minimizing this health, safety, and productivity-associated risk. You should also try to reduce the amount of conductive material in the area, such as carpeting and metal tables.
Airborne Hazards
From aerosols containing infectious microbes to chemicals and even microscopic compounds, there are many airborne hazards that can cause a wealth of long-term damage to any company’s day-to-day operations. Simply put, workers need to be able to breathe clean, fresh, and filtered air that has had these hazards removed before being introduced to the work environment. Proper humidity control and evaporative cooling go a long way in achieving the best possible results, helping you ensure consistent productivity, quality control, and employee wellness.
Have you performed inspections of your work environment to verify the current air quality and relative humidity level? By doing so, you can maximize growth potential and production efficiency while ensuring your team stays healthy and comfortable. For more information on how to achieve proper humidity control with an energy efficient humidifier with evaporative cooling capabilities, contact us at Condair today. We’d be happy to help you plan for a better future!
Similar Links:
https://www.condair.com/humidifiernews/blog-overview/effects-of-humidity-on-the-human-body
