Safety and Health at Work Vol. 13 Supplement 2022
OFFICAIR project: Indoor Air quality and health effects in European modern office buildings
Dublin Core
Title
Safety and Health at Work Vol. 13 Supplement 2022
OFFICAIR project: Indoor Air quality and health effects in European modern office buildings
OFFICAIR project: Indoor Air quality and health effects in European modern office buildings
Subject
OFFICAIR project, Indoor Air quality, health effects, European modern office buildings
Description
Introduction: Indoor air quality related problems are common in offices, and should be addressed by occupational health care providers when evaluating the health risks of a work environment.
Materials and Methods: “OFFICAIR project - On the reduction of health effects from combined exposure to indoor air pollutants in European modern offices” (FP7-CP-FP) consisted of three complementary phases: (a) General Survey (167 buildings - 7440 office workers), aimed to describe the building characteristics, to identify the sources of pollution, and to investigate IAQ perception and symptoms; (b) Detailed study (37 buildings - 685 office workers), including measurements for well-established health relevant indoor pollutants and compounds never investigated previously for their health relevance, and evaluation of health effects and performance; (c) Intervention study (9 buildings, 230 office workers), to investigate the benefits of an intervention on IAQ on health.
Results: OFFICAIR provided an overview of buildings characteristics, indoor concentrations of many pollutants and ambient thermal conditions. The most frequently reported complaints were “Air too
dry” (47%) and “Unsatisfactory noise from inside the building”
(43%). The most reported symptoms were “Dry eyes” (16%) and
“Dry skin” (15%). Associations between building characteristics,
questionnaires and clinical tests taking into account the potential
role of work-related stress and psychological characteristics has
been found.
Conclusions: Health complaints in modern offices due to the office
environment may have an impact on their wellbeing and on the
work performance.
Materials and Methods: “OFFICAIR project - On the reduction of health effects from combined exposure to indoor air pollutants in European modern offices” (FP7-CP-FP) consisted of three complementary phases: (a) General Survey (167 buildings - 7440 office workers), aimed to describe the building characteristics, to identify the sources of pollution, and to investigate IAQ perception and symptoms; (b) Detailed study (37 buildings - 685 office workers), including measurements for well-established health relevant indoor pollutants and compounds never investigated previously for their health relevance, and evaluation of health effects and performance; (c) Intervention study (9 buildings, 230 office workers), to investigate the benefits of an intervention on IAQ on health.
Results: OFFICAIR provided an overview of buildings characteristics, indoor concentrations of many pollutants and ambient thermal conditions. The most frequently reported complaints were “Air too
dry” (47%) and “Unsatisfactory noise from inside the building”
(43%). The most reported symptoms were “Dry eyes” (16%) and
“Dry skin” (15%). Associations between building characteristics,
questionnaires and clinical tests taking into account the potential
role of work-related stress and psychological characteristics has
been found.
Conclusions: Health complaints in modern offices due to the office
environment may have an impact on their wellbeing and on the
work performance.
Creator
Paolo Carrer
Publisher
Elsevier Korea LLC
Date
January 2022
Contributor
Sri Wahyuni
Format
PDF
Language
English
Type
Text
Coverage
Safety and Health at Work Vol. 13 Supplement 2022
Files
Citation
Paolo Carrer, “Safety and Health at Work Vol. 13 Supplement 2022
OFFICAIR project: Indoor Air quality and health effects in European modern office buildings,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed April 19, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/2517.
OFFICAIR project: Indoor Air quality and health effects in European modern office buildings,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed April 19, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/2517.