UK office workers spend an alarmingly limited amount of time outdoors each day, with research stating that almost 40 percent spend a maximum of just 15 minutes outside, excluding their commute to work.
The air quality of a workplace environment plays a huge role in health and wellbeing, so we are going to look at the impact of poor air quality and how regular commercial cleaning can help.
The Effects of Indoor Air Quality
Colds and viruses are much happier indoors, as the environment is less harsh for them so they can survive longer. The concentration of some pollutants is often 2 to 5 times higher indoors than outdoors, and it has also increased in recent decades due to energy-efficient building construction and increased use of synthetic building materials, furnishings, personal care products and some cleaning products. Pollutants are also increased in an indoor environment by damp, poor ventilation and the heating system.
The threat of infection in an indoor workplace is much higher than in your home, simply because there are larger numbers of people mixing pollutants. Every sneeze or cough, or every touch of a door handle, desk, furniture, gives germs a chance to hang around.
Poor cleaning, poor air quality and insufficient building maintenance could be to blame for employees’ ill health, so to protect their health and to prevent the spread of cold and viruses in the workplace, let’s take a look what you can do.
How to Improve Indoor Air Quality
To help improve the indoor air quality of your workplace, the first recommendation is to keep the space clean, with regular and thorough cleaning. This is best done by a dedicated member of staff or a trusted, professional commercial cleaning company to ensure the job is done as thoroughly as possible. The frequency of cleaning will depend on the workplace and its needs, but a deep clean every few months can also help to reduce the number of allergens in the air.
Secondly, it is recommended to increase air circulation within indoor spaces; allow fresh air in to help movement of the air and dilute pollutants in the air.
Also, if you have an air conditioning system, filters should be checked at least once a month and be replaced every 90 days. The filters help to keep indoor air clean and help reduce the spread of viruses. Dirty air filters will reduce its effectiveness and won’t be able to capture as many contaminants.
Commercial Cleaning Can Help
It is our job to make workplaces clean. We love to help Leicestershire businesses keep clean and provide happy, healthy workplaces for their staff, so if you would like a no obligation chat, please do drop us a line.