Clean air – the key to healthy employees and a healthy business

Clean air – the key to healthy employees and a healthy business?

It’s a no-brainer in these times of Covid-19, a must-have for every company that cares about its workers. Plus, it’s great for the balance sheet too. That’s why air-quality experts Zehnder are calling on all businesses to make 2022 their year of clean air. Clean air in the workplace not only stops workers inhaling harmful substances but can protect them from viruses too. And considering we spend one third of a typical day at work, that’s not to be taken lightly. ?

Polluted air causes serious health problems

?Working in polluted air is a major cause of many health problems and occupational diseases, such as asthma, COPD and lung cancer.

?“We’ve helped so many companies where poor air quality is causing employees to complain of headaches, lack of concentration or to regularly call in sick,” says Ben Simons, Head of Europe West at Zehnder. ?“This is extremely worrying for a responsible employer – doubly so when they see productivity decreasing through absences, and costs rising too.”

Typical sources of poor air quality at work

Harmful pollution particles come in all shapes and sizes. Many of the most dangerous are invisible to the naked eye. They include:

• ?chemical vapours released by paint, glues or cleaning agents
• substances released when materials are heated or burned, such as in welding
• mould in damp rooms
• exhaust fumes from nearby traffic or forklift traffic that’s blown into the workplace
• dust or fumes from grinding and cutting, such as silica and nickel dust.

Clean air – a good return on investment

Various studies have shown that healthy indoor air reduces sick leave and increases productivity.[i] Moreover, healthy employees are more satisfied and motivated[ii].?

Zehnder’s air purification systems, however, filter dust, viruses and other harmful particles from the air before employees can breathe them in.

Industrial air cleaning in practice

There are thousands of companies around the world that have discovered the benefits of clean air from Zehnder. Take Bells Food, one of Scotland’s best-known bakeries. Their philosophy has always been to put their employees first – and to go the extra mile when it comes to their health. After installing Zehnder air cleaners, Bells reduced harmful dust particles at their main Shotts factory by 68%.

“Studies have shown that indoor air quality can be so much worse than outdoors,” says Zehnder’s Ben Simons. “It doesn’t help that regulations governing indoor air are lagging well behind the rules for that outdoors. So, any responsible employer has to ask themselves: Am I doing enough about air quality in the workplace?”

[i] https://aeramaxpro.com/harvard-research-indoor-air-quality-workplace-productivity/.

?[ii] Shan, B.; Liu, X.; Gu, A.; Zhao, R. The Effect of Occupational Health Risk Perception on Job Satisfaction. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 2111. https:// doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042111

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