As seasonal temperatures cool, facility managers should ensure air monitoring equipment is properly calibrated in areas where people work next to forklifts, generators and other combustion equipment, says Claire Muselman, chief operating officer at WorkersCompensation.com.
Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless, so as the weather cools and doors and windows are closed and heaters turned on, CO concentrations can increase in rooms without adequate ventilation, Muselman says in a blog post.
“Occupants adapt quickly to … environmental conditions, making gradual deterioration difficult to judge from inside the space,” says Muselman, whose company provides worker resources for filing occupation-related insurance claims.
Muselman pointed to a study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health that found combustion equipment was a major factor among workers who died from CO exposure. Motor vehicles were the most common source, followed by heating systems and generators.
Because exposure can go unnoticed, managers that don’t have monitoring equipment working properly risk exposing their crews to unhealthful conditions. “A cluster of employees reporting headache, dizziness, nausea, unusual fatigue, or confusion in the same area should immediately raise an environmental question,” she said.
Indoor air quality risk increases in office environments as well when the weather cools, says Muselman, pointing to a National Institutes of Health study attributing 35% of sick leave to poor ventilation when exposure to outdoor air is reduced. “Ventilation can have measurable organizational consequences beyond whether a room feels comfortable,” she said.
Not all indoor air quality issues are urgent. Poor ventilation can increase exposure to airborne contaminants and moisture problems can lead to mold growth over time, but exposure to CO from combustion equipment requires immediate action, she says.
“CO binds to hemoglobin with far greater affinity than oxygen, interfering with the body's ability to deliver oxygen to the brain, heart, and other tissues,” she said. “Exposure can produce headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, confusion, and fatigue before a worker recognizes an emergency.”
In addition to ensuring monitoring equipment is operating properly, managers should familiarize their workers to exposure risk.
“Employees working around combustion equipment should know where monitors are located, what alarms mean, and how to respond,” she said.
