Could What's Inside Your Office Block's Walls Be Making You Sick?

Office air quality can heavily impact the comfort, health and productivity of your employees or commercial tenants' workforce. Persistent clusters of airborne illness in your office could be due to hazards within your office walls. 

Causes of Sickness in High-Rise Office Buildings 

Procrastinating on a high rise inspection for air quality risks the possibility that contaminants could enter the office air. When air quality is negatively affected, it is usually biological contaminants, chemical pollutants, and particles that enter the air and affect the health of employees within the building. 

The Nasties Entering Your Air Vents 

Particles can be solid or liquid and usually float through the air. Dust, mould spores, dirt, pollen, building materials such as asbestos and drywall, pet dander, and smoking ash from outside can enter air ducts and cause allergies in offices. 

The most insidious contaminants are biological. Often invisible and difficult to detect, biological contaminants can go unnoticed until they cause illness, potentially impacting productivity and morale. While some exposure is unavoidable (one sick employee entering an office), poor humidity control, water pooling, condensation causing mould, viruses trapped in poorly constructed ventilation systems, and lack of maintenance create the perfect storm for ongoing health issues. 

Chemical pollutants are not only hazardous but can also create noxious smells that are distracting and can trigger physical responses such as hormonal disruption, headaches, asthma, or allergies. Cleaning products can release harmful chemicals, including carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide, which may be difficult to detect but can pose serious health risks, particularly at high levels of exposure.  

Who Is Responsible for Air Integrity?

Tenants and employees must be aware of their own environment and take care to minimise the introduction of contaminants. This includes smoking away from buildings, practising safe cleaning practices, staying home when unwell, and being mindful of furniture and other materials that can retain cleaning chemicals or particles.  

Usually, landlords are obligated to maintain the integrity of air vents. In the past, this was a tedious, expensive, and hazardous exercise in scaffolding, planning, and possibly office shutdowns due to the need to access invasive internal and external structures. 

How to Ensure Integrity of Air Quality Via Roof Cavity and Air Ducts

Rope access companies are on the front line of protecting air quality in high-rise office buildings without the disruptions and drama of the past. Rope access maintenance can now provide a complete integrity check for risks and pollutants in roof cavities and air ducts through specialist high-rise inspections, helping to maximise the comfort, productivity and long-term value of commercial properties.