Posted by Janet Stroud — January 9, 2023 — Smart building technology provider Infogrid has released its annual air quality index report, entitled Air Quality and Health in the Workplace: Key Insights and Hybrid Worker Perspectives. The survey of more than 4,000 U.S. and U.K. respondents reveals employee concerns over the impact of workplace air quality on general health and productivity, and calls for employers to take action.
Image courtesy of Infogrid
Ross Sheil, senior vice president at Infogrid, stated:
The pandemic has undoubtedly prompted greater awareness and concerns over air quality in the workplace — and employees are finally speaking up. Our findings not only show that employees are worried about their health, they are calling for their employers and governments to act now. This is just the tip of the iceberg; indoor air quality will be on the agenda for years to come.
Key findings include:
- Employees are concerned about indoor air quality (IAQ). The numbers are unambiguous. In the U.S., 74% of employees are concerned that poor IAQ is impacting their general health.
- Younger employees are more likely to worry about IAQ. In the U.S., 85% of respondents aged 18 to 34 were either fairly or very concerned, while in the U.K., two-thirds (66%) were concerned.
- Employees relate disease to air quality. A significant minority of respondents — 29% in the U.S. and 21% in the U.K. — worry about catching Covid-19 and other illnesses due to poor ventilation.
- Employees know CO2 hurts their productivity and health. The most surprising revelation from the survey is employees’ high awareness of the impact of carbon dioxide (CO₂) on workplace performance. In the U.S., 77% (and 61% in the U.K.) said they were aware that CO₂ levels impact productivity.
- A sizable minority do not trust workplace ventilation. 20% in the U.S. and 17% in the U.K. simply don’t believe that ventilation systems are adequate, an uncomfortable finding for facilities managers and architects.
- Employees want their organizations to do more about IAQ. Roughly 4 in 10 say their company does enough to improve air quality, while 4 in 10 say their employer does not. About 8% said their organization is doing nothing.
- There is widespread belief that improved IAQ should be policy. 31% of respondents in the U.S. and 29% in the U.K. say that providing clean air is “vitally important” for a healthy workplace.
To download the full Air Quality and Health in the Workplace: Key Insights and Hybrid Worker Perspectives report, visit Infogrid. The company operates globally and partners with best-in-class IoT tech and sensor providers to equip buildings with smart technologies to collect, combine and analyze data for a complete visibility of a building’s performance. The Infogrid platform measures impact and surfaces actionable insights to help commercial real estate owners, landlords and managers reach ESG goals.
