The Cost of Poor Air Quality

Poor air quality in the workplace doesn’t just cause health problems: it can also have financial implications for your business, such as higher insurance premiums, medical expenses and sickness absence and reduced productivity.

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Indoor environmental quality depends on several factors including temperature, humidity, lighting and contaminant concentrations. Without effective air quality management, employee wellbeing can be negatively impacted.

Working in an unhealthy environment causes dissatisfaction and poor physical health, both of which lead to absenteeism. Your workforce will likely accomplish less than they would in ideal conditions too.

Common health issues

Worst-case scenario, poor workplace air quality with a high concentration of contaminants can cause a range of serious health issues. The most common occur in sectors such as manufacturing, where dust and fumes in the air can cause respiratory issues.

Data from the Health and Safety Executive reveals 92,000 employees in the UK manufacturing sector suffer work-related health problems each year. Industrial diseases such as dermatitis and occupational asthma affect more than 17,000 workers annually.

Around 4,000 employees in manufacturing suffer lung or breathing problems each year, caused by exposure to substances including flour, solvent fumes and wood dust. Poor quality air increases the risks of cancer, heart attacks and impaired lung function, while making existing health conditions worse.

The HSE found that people who work in manufacturing have five times greater risk of developing occupational asthma than the national average. Almost 30% of people who register as having occupational cancers have worked in manufacturing in the past. As well as physical conditions, a massive 40% of these employees suffer from stress and anxiety, mental health conditions associated with feeling unhappy at work.

Air quality regulations

In the UK, businesses must be familiar with the laws relating to air quality at work, as there are significant financial penalties for failing to comply with the regulations.

The working environment is governed by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health regulations. Employers are required to carry out risk assessments, considering how people may be exposed to harmful substances. They must also consider the impact of exposure on others entering the building such as visitors, members of the public, contractors or maintenance workers.

Protecting employees from hazardous dust and fumes is paramount, with many companies investing in dust extraction and fume extraction systems to improve air quality. Companies must also ensure workers have the relevant training, so they understand how to use protective equipment properly.

Any employer found guilty of breaking COSHH laws can receive unlimited fines or imprisonment, lose their reputation and potentially face claims for compensation from employees whose health has suffered.

Companies found to have poor air quality may also find themselves facing higher medical expenses and insurance premiums: since air pollution has been connected to respiratory issues, cancer and cardiovascular disorders, it follows that the insurance premiums will be greater for high-risk industries unless it can be proven they have the risks under control.

Financial benefits of tackling air pollution

Tackling workplace air pollution has proven benefits for businesses: the Confederation of British Industry estimates three million working days are lost to employee illness every year in the UK. If air pollution levels were reduced to those recommended by the World Health Organisation, many sick days could be regained. Reducing indoor air pollution by 95% could boost productivity by 15%.

Employers can use measurable values to quantify how much absenteeism is impacting the company financially, such as comparing the level of employee sickness with profits, sales, errors per hour and actual time spent at work at any given time. Evaluating productivity, asking employees how they feel about job satisfaction and completing annual evaluations are all benchmarks of how staff are faring.

Indoor air pollution negatively impacts psychological wellbeing and consequently productivity. Research, published by the National Library of Medicine, suggested employees with a higher stress rate had significantly lower productivity.

A study carried out on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs estimated exposure to particulate air pollution in the UK reduced average life expectancy by around six months.

The joint study by the Institute of Occupational Medicine, Ricardo-AEA and Metroeconomica focused on the number of working days lost because of exposure to particulate matter. It concluded poor air quality had a “damaging impact” on productivity, estimating the loss of working days associated with high pollutant levels could have reduced the gross domestic product of the nation by as much as £1.7 billion in one year alone.

Employee recruitment and retention

In a study of corporate buildings in the UK, there were 30% fewer complaints from employees about air quality and temperature in those certified to higher “green” and healthier standards. A business with a bad reputation in terms of the workplace environment will also face challenges in employee recruitment and retention in today’s competitive job market.

In addition to employee wellbeing, poor air quality can also impact equipment efficiency, cleaning processes and product quality. This means machinery may need to be serviced, repaired or replaced more frequently.

AirBench workplace solutions

AirBench offers proven solutions that reliably solve dust and fume issues. Our downdraught bench can help achieve a high standard of air quality by drawing dust or fumes down into the internal filters through the extraction bench’s surface, before returning clean air to the room.

Our VertEx cross-draught extraction systems are modular walls of extraction that draw dust or fumes through perforated front panels into the internal filters. Contaminants are removed from the air and the filtered air is returned to the room.

Contact us today for further details.