Clearing the Air: Identifying the elephant in the room
Are we looking at indoor air quality (IAQ) incorrectly—seeing only parts of the picture based on our roles as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) technicians, janitorial contractors, building managers, engineers, tenants, or occupants?
How we view IAQ matters. If we look at its challenges separately, we miss improvements and undersize change. It calls to mind the parable of the blind men and the elephant …
Long ago, several blind men heard about an elephant and decided to explore it by touch. The first man put his hands on the elephant’s side and said, “It feels like a solid wall.” The second man felt the ear and insisted, “No, it’s like a large, flat fan.” The third man touched the tusk and said, “This elephant is sharp and pointed, like a spear.” Each blind man believed he was right, though he was only partially correct. The village elder told them they’d missed the entire truth, that their individual perspectives didn’t grasp the magnificence of the elephant.
IAQ is like that elephant. Until we look at all the inputs to IAQ, our solutions will fail to protect the health of occupants. Poor indoor health means less productivity, lower wages, higher costs, and fewer profits—outcomes to avoid.
IAQ today—a layered approach
The purpose of IAQ evolved from reducing indoor pollutants and improving energy usage to now include more protection from infectious aerosols, such as SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), RSV or respiratory syncytial virus, influenza, etc.
Today, post-pandemic protections layer finer HVAC filters, more outside air, antimicrobial touchpoint programs, surface disinfection, and hand hygiene, along with advanced technologies, such as:
- Upper-room ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI)
- Needlepoint bipolar ionization
- Photocatalytic oxidation
- Real-time air monitoring
- Air purification systems.
Guidelines and recommendations have also evolved, such as OSHA’s 3430-04: Indoor Air Quality in Commercial and Institutional Buildings, ASHRAE Standard 241, Control of Infectious Aerosols, CDC’s COVID-19 Ventilation in Buildings, etc.
But something’s still missing. How are infectious pathogens getting into buildings? While important and necessary, IAQ’s layered approach misses the elephant in the room—the people problem (occupants).
The IAQ elephant in the room
When sick people go to work, infectious pathogens go with them: into the air, landing on surfaces, and infecting other people. One infectious cough or sneeze and touchpoints become transmission pathways, regardless of whether those touchpoints were disinfected minutes earlier.
One sick person exhaling infectious aerosols can cause HVAC systems to send that air throughout a building, often before HVAC filters can remove them or without the required dwell time/exposure for UVGI, oxidation, or ionization systems to work.
The whole IAQ elephant
Let’s expand on what IAQ means to include protecting occupants’ health from presenteeism (people working while sick), as well as airborne pollutants, and aerosolized and surface pathogens.
In this holistic picture of indoor air quality, presenteeism adds to the threats from pollutants and pathogens. We can now begin to address this primary source of pathogens as part of a comprehensive solution for IAQ. Otherwise, improvements patch holes while large leaks pour pathogens into buildings.
Presenteeism is costly and complex
When people go to work sick, they are a costly contributor to unhealthy IAQ. One estimate puts presenteeism’s costs at 10 times larger (US $1,500 billion per year) than absenteeism costs (US $150 billion per year), based on data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
One sick worker can quickly lead to outbreaks, exponentially infecting large numbers of other workers. This can increase absenteeism, reduce productivity, and potentially increase an organization’s healthcare costs.
The financial costs to organizations seem apparent. However, due to the complexity of presenteeism, the problem has yet to garner the necessary financial awareness to address it fully. This is why it’s been easier to invest in HVAC improvements.
The hard return on investment (ROI) from energy reductions is easier to calculate than presenteeism’s soft ROI from increased employee productivity.
Presenteeism is complex, as it occurs for different reasons. Dedicated employees may have a strong sense of duty to come to work however they feel. Career-oriented employees may have a fear of missing out (FOMO) on promotions. Or many employees may simply need to earn money they’d miss by not working.
While a sense of duty and FOMO contribute to presenteeism, the reason of “needing to earn money” when sick is likely more common, especially for lower-wage workers who lack sick leave or paid time off (PTO).
Typical IAQ solution benefits and limitations
IAQ technology protections against pathogens and pollutants have limitations in added costs, operational effectiveness, and/or ease of calculating ROI. Consider these questions:
- How close must infectious aerosols get to sources of needlepoint bipolar oxidation, photocatalytic ionization, or UVGI energy? And for how long before being effective?
- Are potentially harmful radiation or byproducts produced during operation?
Measures to reduce presenteeism also have limitations, such as cultural change, long-term costs, and difficult ROI calculations.
But since technological advancements come to market ever faster, isn’t it time to also try reducing presenteeism?
Think about it. If there were a statistically proven technology that reduced the costs of presenteeism with hard ROI, it’d have every Shark Tank investor crawling over each other to invest.
An interesting reality about reducing presenteeism is that most of it already exists. One part alone is not enough; it will take the entire proverbial elephant to change presenteeism’s impact on IAQ in a persistent and meaningful way.
Here are a few logical ways to reduce presenteeism:
- Paid time off (PTO), sick pay, paid family, medical leave.
Offering PTO has pros, including enabling employees to stay home when sick and/or care for family members, reducing the organizational costs of illnesses, and increasing employee productivity.
The cons are that it increases company and employee benefit costs, can require new human resource (HR) policies, and may require more personnel administration.
- Living wage minimums
Living wage minimums can increase employee satisfaction and loyalty, reduce recruitment and training costs from employee turnover, increase productivity from kept knowledge, and demonstrate company commitment to employees.
The downside could be higher labor costs, an initial dip in profits, and less financial room for strategic failures.
- Full healthcare coverage
Healthcare coverage for employees attracts top talent and increases recruiting success. It demonstrates a company’s commitment to employees and, of course, results in a healthier and more productive workforce.
However, it does add costs to the company and employees, raising the price of company benefits.
- Sick leave policy
Having a sick leave policy in place encourages employees to stay home when ill, reduces the ambiguity of when to avoid coming to work, and provides legal cover against intimidation and/or harassment.
Keep in mind that you would need to review HR policies and legalities. It would also help to consider the costs of implementing new education and awareness programs.
- Vaccination support
Supporting vaccination helps support employees. Education avoids disinformation for a more stable workforce. Vaccinations reduce absenteeism costs and raise productivity from healthier employees.
Taking this action may require providing additional paid time off (PTO) for vaccinations and recovery from side effects. And again, HR policies and legalities would need to be reviewed. Also, there would be some increases in supervision management overseeing these changes.
- Hand hygiene practices
It is a given that educating employees in hand hygiene practices ensures they will be healthier and reduces the spread of illness at work. This, in turn, will result in reduced absenteeism costs, greater productivity, and employee confidence in a healthy workplace environment. Additional funds for dispensers and hand sanitizer would be needed, and for costs to maintain and fill the dispensers.
- Education and awareness
Education on IAQ, presenteeism, and having a healthy workplace environment helps employees know to stay home when sick. It reduces absenteeism costs, increases loyalty, raises productivity, and communicates company commitment to employees.
Of course, education and an awareness program come at a cost, but they may be worth it for your organization.
Improving the whole IAQ elephant
Improving IAQ is essential for healthier and safer indoor environments. To drive change, C-suite executives, investors, and building owners must understand the financial and moral ROI of a holistic approach.
IAQ technology companies, engineers, and service contractors are essential in bringing this message to decision-makers. Highlighting the impact of unhealthy IAQ on productivity, hidden costs, and workplace well-being is crucial.
Integrating presenteeism into the fight against pollutants and pathogens will broaden the scope for achieving healthier indoor workplaces cost-effectively and continuously.
Chris Arlen is a sales, messaging, and strategy consultant who helps facility service contractors tell persuasive stories that sell and profit. He shares observations that can help service departments communicate their value and help outsourced partners sell smarter for richer results. Arlen is on LinkedIn and Twitter: @ChrisArlen and can be contacted at [email protected] or 206-909-5860.
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