Clean Air, Take Care: But is it a Health and Safety issue?
Air quality at work can be confusing.
An office feels stuffy. A meeting room gets uncomfortable when it is full. Someone raises concerns about headaches, tiredness or the air not feeling fresh. The first question for many business owners and office managers is often:
“Is this a health and safety issue?”
The honest answer is: it might be but it may also need another type of specialist support.
That is why understanding the difference between health and safety, occupational hygiene and occupational health can be so helpful.
Why clean air matters at work
The wider Clean Air? Take Care! campaign is focused on reducing occupational respiratory disease and promoting sensible respiratory protection in the workplace. For many businesses, especially those dealing with dust, fumes, vapours, gases or hazardous substances, clean air is a serious specialist issue.
In an office environment, the conversation is often more likely to begin with ventilation, fresh air, comfort and employee concerns.
HSE states that employers must make sure there is adequate ventilation in enclosed areas of the workplace. Ventilation means bringing in fresh air from outside and removing indoor air that may be stale, hot, humid or contain pollutants.
Where health and safety fits
General health and safety support can help a business look at how the workplace is being managed.
For an office, this may include asking:
Are there areas that regularly feel stuffy or poorly ventilated?
How does fresh air enter the space?
Are windows, vents or mechanical systems available and working?
Who is responsible for maintaining ventilation systems?
Have employees raised repeated concerns?
Are concerns being recorded and followed up?
Does the workplace risk assessment need to reflect the issue?
This is where Your Company Works can help.
We do not provide specialist air-quality testing, occupational-hygiene monitoring or ventilation engineering. However, we can help you understand whether a concern may sit within general health and safety management and point you in the right direction where more specialist input is needed.
Where occupational hygiene fits
Occupational hygiene is a specialist area that many people have not heard of.
The British Occupational Hygiene Society explains that occupational hygienists use science and engineering to identify, evaluate and control workplace health hazards. These can include chemicals, dust, fumes, noise, radiation, vibration and extreme temperatures.
This may be the right route where there are concerns about exposure to hazardous substances, airborne contaminants, dusts, fumes, vapours or gases.
For example, a business carrying out work that creates fumes or dust may need specialist occupational-hygiene advice rather than general office ventilation guidance.
Where occupational health fits
Occupational health is different again.
HSE explains that occupational health is concerned with how work and the work environment can affect workers’ health, and how a worker’s health can affect their ability to do their job.
Occupational health may become relevant where employees are experiencing health symptoms, where fitness for work needs to be considered, where workplace adjustments may be needed, or where health surveillance is legally required.
This is not the same as testing the air, checking a ventilation system or completing a general health and safety review.
Sometimes the building specialist is the right person
Some concerns may sit with the landlord, facilities provider, air-conditioning contractor or a competent ventilation engineer.
For example, if a mechanical ventilation system is not working properly, has not been maintained, or nobody knows whether it brings in fresh air or simply recirculates air, the business may need support from someone with technical building or ventilation expertise.
The practical message for office managers
You do not need to know every technical answer.
But you do need to:
listen when concerns are raised;
record what has been reported;
look at the workplace arrangements;
check who is responsible for the building or ventilation system;
take proportionate action; and
know when to involve the right competent specialist.
Good health and safety support is not about making things more complicated. It is about helping you understand what needs attention and what the next sensible step should be.
Not sure where a concern fits?
If you are not sure whether a workplace concern falls under health and safety or not? You do not have to work it out alone.
Book a free 20-minute online chat with Paula Santomauro.
Your Company Works can help you talk through the concern, clarify what may sit within general health and safety responsibilities, and point you in the right direction where additional specialist input may be needed.
No pressure and no unnecessary complication, just calm, practical guidance to help you understand the next sensible step.
Paula Santomauro
Your Company Works