With the news today that the air quality in Ireland may not be as good as you think and while Ireland’s air quality complied with the legal minimums outlined by the European Union, the health-related guidelines outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO) were exceeded. On World Lung Day it may be a good time to look at air quality in the workplace and what can be done to help the situation.
The average person can spend close to 90% of their time in enclosed spaces, of which roughly a third is spent at work, the creation of sustainable, healthy workplaces is essential to your health. Everything has an impact on your environment, from the construction of the building, the layout of the space and furniture, and the way of arranging work. Aspects such as water, nourishment, light, movement, thermal comfort, sound, materials, the mind, and community, air quality plays a fundamental role in all of this. In fact, non-existent or poor air treatment may harm workers’ health.
Air quality is also affected by the materials used to construct the building, as well as its setting – rural, industrial, or urban. The air is a mix of outside air, which enters, in a controlled manner, through ventilation and/or air conditioning systems or freely, via door and windows, and the recirculated indoor air.
When trying to get good air quality inside the building, it is important to be aware whether it is an enclosed office, where it is easier to operate customised ventilation or an open space or separated by partitions. In addition to proper operation of diffusers and returns, which ensures that clean air circulates through the whole building before being extracted, it is essential that the system can be adjusted to suit different times of year and temperatures.
Where possible, we will always encourage natural ventilation through properly placed windows that are easily opened and are adequately protected from the sun regardless of the mechanical ventilation and air conditioning systems. In fact, workspaces that do not feature natural ventilation and are kept sealed to boost the performance of the air conditioning system are more at risk from pollutants.
Removing formaldehyde from its furniture is one of Actiu’s main goals, in line with its wellbeing and sustainability values and the WELL v2 standard which penalises its use. For that reason, the company now manufactures all products with MFC boards 100% free from this toxic agent. This is a pioneering measure in Europe, it is the only manufacturer that includes it in its whole range of melamines as standard.
The measure is in response to the firm’s presence in the U.S., where, since 2019, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) has mandated the use of certified 0% formaldehyde particleboards (fibreboard, MDF,…). This is currently being implemented in the U.S., the world’s most competitive market where compliance with this regulation is critical. However, Actiu, which already boasts certification guaranteeing the quality of its fibreboard and medium-density boards, has decided to standardise all the mMFC board it uses as 0% formaldehyde.
To read more about what Actiu are doing to help improve the air flow of your workspace by decreasing chemical use in production see the original article on: https://www.actiu.com/en/articles/news/air-quality-in-workspaces/
Image credit: https://www.actiu.com/
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