Facility Management

Employees calling in sick impacts the overall productivity and performance of a business. If your business has a persistent rate of sick days no matter the weather, maybe it’s time to ask why. Here’s an overview of how maintaining your HVAC system regularly will help keep your employees at work.

Office Air Quality

Air quality at work is something most people may not even think about., but the air in the office actually carries allergens like dust and pollen, along with other pollutants. An HVAC system filters and ventilates air. Without proper maintenance, however, the HVAC system will not filter and ventilate the air as it should. Without proper ventilation and circulation, levels of carbon dioxide increase and can lead to symptoms like sweating, an elevated heart rate, tingling in the hands and feet, and headaches.

The office HVAC system should ventilate around 20 cubic feet per minute of outside air per person to decrease allergens and regulate carbon dioxide.

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Regular HVAC maintenance is an important aspect of keeping employees healthy and happy. The process of cooling hot air creates humid air that has to be expelled from the building. If an HVAC system can’t do this, then bacteria and fungi may grow in the system.

When employees have sick building syndrome — they only feel sick while they are in the office — it can be caused by a poor HVAC system. Symptoms of sick building syndrome include headaches, fatigue, nasal congestion, and breathing issues. These can be caused by dirty or contaminated air running through the HVAC system. Maintaining and keeping your HVAC system in good repair and upgrading to new technology will create a more productive and healthy environment.

Removing or Controlling Pollutants

Some methods to control or eliminate pollutants include regular cleaning or replacement of filters, replacing wet carpet or tile, and venting contaminant sources outside. A little effort goes a long way to ensure that your employees will have fewer sick days because the pollutants that cause allergies and flu-like symptoms will be greatly reduced with an up-to-date HVAC system.

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Owning a business means finding ways to reduce your costs as much as possible to help your profit margin at the end of the year. Energy costs for a business are one of the most important expenses for business owners. A few simple steps can reduce energy costs by changing and improving the heating and cooling system and implementing small changes in employee behavior to reduce overall energy usage.

The HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system used in your business is one of the largest components of your power use — possibly the largest. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that around 30% of energy is wasted in a commercial building. The following tips are just some of the ways that business owners can save money.

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By Larry Lacombe

When it comes to maintaining regulatory compliance, education is oftentimes the most difficult part. Particularly in situations when staff are accustomed to doing things in a certain way, it can be tough to persuade the team to adhere to new compliance-related procedures.

However, with more than 629 discrete regulatory requirements across nine domains, it’s apparent why compliance education is so crucial. With so many regulations, there’s a lot to consider.

When staff are properly educated, healthcare facilities will find it much easier to comply with regulatory requirements. Healthcare executives should consider the following three recommendations to appropriately educate healthcare facility staff on regulatory compliance. 

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By Ronak Kadakia

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) estimates that about 8 million U.S. healthcare workers are potentially exposed to hazardous drugs in the workplace. This figure includes pharmacy and nursing personnel, physicians, operating room personnel, environmental services workers, workers in research laboratories, veterinary care workers, and shipping and receiving personnel. 

NIOSH has shown that these drugs can produce several adverse health outcomes such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, coughing, facial flushing, hair thinning, hair loss, dermatitis, irritation of skin and eyes, irritation of mucous membranes, menstrual cycle disruption, fetal loss, and even some forms of cancer.

As a result, NIOSH recommends that in tandem with other safety measures, healthcare workers use a Closed System Transfer Device (CSTD) throughout the hazardous drug-handling process [NIOSH 2004]. Although all CSTDs may not be equally protective, a study by Vyas in 2013 shows that CSTD-use can reduce hazardous drug contamination. 

[Read more…] about Choosing Wisely: 5 things to look for when selecting protective devices for employee safety