Now that Furlough has ended and the summer holiday period is now over, more people are returning to work and students are returning to school, college and university. In this article, we discuss the importance of good ventilation and provide you with some valuable tips for keeping your workplace safe.
Understanding how viruses spread
We now understand a lot more about how the Corona virus, Covid 19, spreads. Initially, there were fears that it spreads rapidly by touching surfaces that an infected person has come into contact with, but this is a much lower risk.
The virus spreads more from face-to-face contact and there’s a higher risk of the virus spreading indoors where the airflow is typically poorer.
Having a good airflow means that the virus is more likely to weaken as it becomes diluted by fresher air. According to the government website*:
“Bringing fresh air into a room and removing older stale air that contains virus particles reduces the chance of spreading COVID-19. The more fresh air that is brought inside, the quicker any airborne virus will be removed from the room.”
Tips for improving air quality in offices
We like to share as much helpful information about air ventilation and air quality as possible, so here are some tips on how to improve air quality in offices, schools and universities to help you improve the airflow for workers in your offices, classrooms and study areas:
Use a modern air ventilation system
Having modern air ventilation systems installed by professionals will ensure that there is a constant airflow throughout the building and that stale air is taken away quickly. This can dramatically impact how long any virus is present in the air.
Even if you have an old air ventilation system, this will help but it might be worth having it reviewed to make sure that it’s working properly. It also needs to work efficiently throughout the building rather than in selective rooms.
Open windows and doors
In some areas, you might not have an air ventilation system. You can still try to maintain good airflow to improve room ventilation by opening windows and doors but make sure that this doesn’t raise any security concerns!
It can be harder to keep doors and windows open during the colder winter months but you can still improve airflow by being selective. Maybe by opening windows early in the morning and at the end of the day as well as during peak times when there are groups of people that are in close proximity to each other.
Disinfect workplaces
Before workers return to the office, or students return to classrooms, it’s good practice to disinfect workstations and other areas first. Regular cleaning can help ensure that viruses don’t work their way into the air where they can spread more easily.
It’s also good to encourage healthy working practices. Face to face meetings are inevitable, but keeping a distance where possible and reducing the sizes of groups can really help.
Office air ventilation systems are great at maintaining good airflow and they can be made more effective by reducing group face to face contact.
The use of facemasks in corridors can also help to prevent the virus from spreading as staff or students walk from room to room.
Are you ready for “back to work”?
If you would like support ensuring that your office or education buildings have good airflow then we would be happy to discuss your situation with you. Give Lawton Building and Engineering Services a call today to see how we can help.
