Indoor air quality at the workplace is an important worker safety concern that employers need to pay attention to in a timely manner. Poor air quality can make you, the employer, vulnerable to litigation from your workers because this does form part of your employer safety responsibilities. The Occupational Health and Safety Act -section 25(2)(h) clearly elucidates that the employer has to take every reasonable precaution to protect workers within the workplace.
According to the Canadian Union of Public Employees, cost cuts are a major reason for poor air quality. If you have adopted stringent energy conservation methods to keep your costs low, you may be inadvertently hampering adequate inflow of air from the outside. The focus on rendering buildings air- tight to improve HVAC efficiency also works against the interior air quality in these situations because the entire space is airtight. The reduced outside air inflow adds to the accumulation of contaminants inside, because there is no way to flush these out of the internal air space. Employer inaction in terms of failing to regularly maintain and clean HVAC systems only makes this situation worse and causes the air quality to deteriorate further.
As a responsible employer with adequate concern for worker health and worker safety, it is necessary for you to give enough attention to the indoor air quality and invest in making sure that it does not give any cause for legal maneuvers by your workers.
Be compliant and hire a Certified Registered Safety Professional (CRSP)
SafetyON Environmental Inc.
(647) 317-0840
