Today's blog takes a look at how you can approach your boss about office air quality and motivate for a VIRUSKILLER™ air purifier for your workplace.

So, you're finally back at your desk. And by that, I mean your desk in the office, rather than at home. But how comfortable are you about being there? Are you excited about seeing your colleagues, but concerned about whether you're taking their germs home to your family? Are you worried about using the meeting room because it doesn't have a window you can open and your colleagues aren't as rigorous about wearing their masks as you are? 

If this scenario sounds like you - or you're still at home because you haven't resolved these reservations about going back to the office - you certainly aren't alone.  

Office air quality

Initial recently released a new global hygiene report, The Global Hygiene Reset, examining the influence of the Coronavirus pandemic on people’s attitudes, behaviours and expectations about hygiene. We surveyed 20,000 people across 20 countries - including South Africa - to build a global perspective on attitudes towards hygiene.

We found that 72% of people surveyed are now more concerned about the spread of germs via the air they breathe indoors than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

So as I said, you aren't alone in your concerns about the indoor air quality of your office. 

Initial has the solution - VIRUSKILLER™ air purifiers - about which we've written pretty extensively here on Insights. VIRUSKILLER™ is the only air purifier on the market to use a triple filtration process with a UV-C reactor chamber to kill 99.9999% of airborne viruses and bacteria, including Coronavirus, on a single air pass*. 

We think this is a pretty compelling reason to have a VIRUSKILLER™ air purifier in the office - but how do you tell your boss you need one? 

So, how do you approach your boss about office air quality?

I would suggest that when motivating for an office air purification solution like VIRUSKILLER™ to your boss, you position it as an investment in both the employees and the business - rather than having your boss see it as simply a rental item on the company's balance sheet. 

Talk to your boss about the risks of poor indoor air quality - most importantly, the damage poor IAQ causes to productivity, and the increase in absenteeism caused by both sick building syndrome and the circulation of airborne viruses.

It's important to stress that while the Coronavirus has been the wake-up call many businesses needed to look at their office air quality, air purification isn’t only about eliminating viruses from the air. 

Exposure to recycled indoor air in air-conditioned buildings - coupled with common outdoor air pollutants that find their way indoors - can lead to poor concentration, headaches, and diminished mental performance. Poor indoor air quality has been linked to a reduction in a person’s ability to perform specific mental tasks requiring concentration, calculation, and memory.

Recycled air and common indoor air pollutants found in offices can reduce an employee’s ability to respond to the day-to-day demands of their work, leading to fatigue, headaches, and diminished mental and physical performance. Carbon monoxide concentrations in the workplace can cause fatigue, reduced brain function, and impaired vision and coordination. Poor indoor air quality has been shown to reduce office performance by between 6–9%. 

Improving productivity in the workplace

Poorly ventilated office air that is endlessly recycled and clogged with particulates, germs, and toxic fumes affect our mood, productivity, and workplace performance, and thus - ultimately - the bottom line. And I don't think I've ever met a boss who wasn't interested in seeing an improvement in absenteeism, productivity and the bottom line. 

What you need to make clear is that the benefit of acquiring VIRUSKILLER™ clean air technology is the protection of the health and wellbeing of employees (and therefore an increase in productivity and a decrease in absenteeism) as well as crucial peace of mind that the business is fulfilling its duty of care to look after the health and wellbeing of all employees.

We believe that businesses that embrace their employees' fundamental shift in mindset regarding air hygiene at work and implement integrated hygiene strategies – not only for hand hygiene but for surfaces and clean air as well – will be better placed to protect the health and safety of staff and customers, keeping them reassured and giving them the confidence to return to their premises.

If you would like to invest in your company’s future wellbeing, contact us about a hygiene survey for your premises. You may also like to download the VIRUSKILLER™ brochure.

*When independently tested against Coronavirus DF2 (a surrogate for Coronavirus), Adenovirus, Influenza and Polio, the unit was found to kill 99.9999% of viruses on a single air pass.