How to Boost Indoor Air Quality in the Workplace: New Perspectives from Employees
Thursday, 15th December 2022
Three years after the beginning of the pandemic, employees are still concerned about the impact of indoor air quality (IAQ) on their health and productivity in the workplace. And they want their employers and building managers to do more to improve it.
This is the message that clearly emerges from Infogrid’s latest study into employee perspectives on IAQ.
While vaccination campaigns have reduced the threat of the pandemic, employees continue to worry about falling ill at work. What’s more, they’re concerned that workplace IAQ is having a negative impact on their mental health, as well as their ability to work at their best.
So what can employers do to improve indoor air quality in the workplace?
Our research suggests that the workforce is already well-informed of the risks of poor IAQ at work. So, as a first step, employers and FMs need to make sure they’re listening to their concerns.
The good news is that there are many concrete steps employers can take to improve, which we outline below. But first, let’s explore in detail what your employees are thinking.
What do employees think about indoor air quality in the workplace?
Our research collected the perspectives of 4,000 hybrid working employees, from the UK and the US. We found that employees are well-informed about the risks of low indoor air quality, concerned about the impact it’s having on their health, and keen for their employers to do more.
Here are some of the insights that stood out:
The majority of employees are concerned that indoor air quality is impacting their health at work. In the UK, over half say they’re worried, while in the US that number is closer to three in four. Over a quarter of employees overall reported being very concerned.
Concern remains about catching COVID-19 and other illnesses due to poor IAQ. Over one in five are still worried specifically about the transmission of airborne diseases, including COVID-19.
Their concerns are justified: studies since the pandemic have shown that low air quality can increase the risk of spreading airborne viruses indoors.
It’s not just the impact of IAQ on health that’s a worry. Employees are well aware of the impact on carbon dioxide (CO₂) on workplace performance, and many say that they personally struggle to concentrate due to low air quality.
This tallies with other research. For example, studies show high levels of indoor CO₂ correlate with symptoms of sick building syndrome and lowered productivity. Meanwhile, improved IAQ has been shown to considerably increase productivity. One study found that improving IAQ has cost benefits of $6,500 annually through higher productivity.
Young people are more aware and concerned about IAQ than other ages. More than four in five US respondents aged 18 to 34 were either fairly or very concerned, while two thirds were concerned in the UK. The fact that this demographic is much more concerned than others suggests that it’s an issue that’s not going away.
Many respondents don’t feel employers are doing enough. In both the US and the UK, four in 10 say that employers aren’t doing enough—while as many as 10% say they don’t know if companies are doing anything at all.
The same goes for building managers. Around one in five hybrid workers in the US (22%) and the UK (17%) don’t believe facility managers have adequately considered air quality in the design of the workplace. What’s more, this is compounded by the fact that 22% of Americans surveyed believe that CO₂ levels in the workplace are already too high. Clearly, an urgent solution is needed.
Finally, clean air is “vitally important” for a healthy workplace, employees say. Nearly a third of respondents (31% in the US and 29% in the UK) agreed, even if they felt their employer didn’t make this issue a high priority.
What do employees want their employers to do on indoor air quality in the workplace?
Employees don’t think that companies are doing enough to tackle IAQ in the workplace. But what do they think employers should do?
Four key strategies emerge most strongly from the research:
Make clean air company policy. One of the most important steps for businesses is to acknowledge that IAQ is important for a healthy workplace. 28% of respondents in the US and 25% in the UK said that they support the idea of companies making clean air an explicit priority.
Monitor air quality levels in the workplace. There’s widespread support among employees for businesses to anonymously monitor key IAQ metrics in the workplace:
CO₂. Employees were clear about how aware they are of the importance of the impact of carbon dioxide. A third of US employees and a quarter of those in the UK say they would support CO₂ monitoring.
Temperature. Temperature is one of the most important factors of IAQ, with 31% of employees saying that it negatively affects their productivity and nearly two thirds that it affects their mental health. A third of employees support temperature monitoring in their workplace.
Humidity. Getting humidity right is essential for managing viral risk indoors. More than two in five support collecting data to optimise it.
Occupancy levels in the workplace. IAQ and occupancy are two sides of the same coin. When there are too many people in a room, the air can become stuffy—and that’s due to high CO₂ levels. Monitor occupancy and you’ll be better able to manage IAQ too.
In the UK, over 20% of respondents said that they would be happy with businesses monitoring any data anonymously if it improved the efficiency of the building.
Employee support for the use of data has remained a consistent finding in our research. Early in 2022, employees told us that they want their employers to collect this data—and that they would even like to see that data themselves.
Improve ventilation systems. A surprisingly high number of respondents reported that they didn’t believe ventilation systems in company buildings were fit for purpose. In fact, many suggested that the design of the buildings simply wasn’t able to provide a healthy environment.
As an employer, you need to make sure that ventilation systems are doing what they should be doing. In a previous report, 39% of respondents wanted to see better ventilation in the workplace.
Discuss changes with your employees. Many employees agreed that it’s important to them that companies consult them on the state of the work environment. Whatever you do as an employer, bring your staff into the decision-making process.
How Infogrid can help
At Infogrid, we help businesses take control of air quality. Our Healthy Building System gives you the data you need on all aspects of your building health, from indoor air quality to occupancy, from leaks to security—so you can build a better environment for your employees.
At the heart of that system is our building intelligence dashboard. Collecting data on CO₂, temperature, humidity, occupancy, and other factors from sensors across your building, this dashboard enables you to visualise the health of your site on a single platform:
Easy installation. Infogrid’s system uses the smallest sensor tiles on the planet. Thanks to simple, peel-and-stick installation, your system can be up and running in moments.
Fully remote, smart dashboard. Visualise IAQ data and more from a single screen, in whatever form you choose. What’s more, monitor your building health from wherever you are, even if you’re not on site.
Fast, measurable ROI. With Infogrid, the NHS (the UK’s National Health Service) achieved an ROI of 97% in the first year—and 285% every year after that.
Employees want you to improve indoor air quality in the workplace. A smart solution can help you do exactly that—and so much more. Book a demo to get started.