...Impact of Indoor Air Quality Towards Workers’ Health Performance on Safety Engineering Perspective Ahmad Shah Hizam bin Md Yasir (GS40361) andMohd Ruzaimi bin Mohd Ariffin (GS38824) | | | Abstract Deterioration of air quality in working environments has now become an increasing and critical in both developed and developing countries. The potential risks and problems related to indoor air pollution has been recognized, and there is a need to measure and establish air quality standards for those working in any confined environments. For health and safety reasons, the indoor air quality (IAQ) in an enclosed building, where a few people are working in it, was investigated. This study aimed to determine the association between indoor air quality and the workers’ health performance in XYZ Company. A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted among 117 respondents. Assessments on IAQ perception level from staff were conducted through questionnaires, which consist of Indoor Air Quality and Health Performance Survey. The three IAQ variables tested in this study are ventilation, particles contaminant and thermal comfort. DOSH and STRIDE has also measured the IAQ level, which are the concentration of Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO), temperature as well as humidity. All data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics through SPSS Software. Based on the data analyzed, building occupants’ satisfaction level is identified. Findings show...
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...org/journal/hjdm.html) City Atmospheric Quality Optimal Assessment Based on Combined Model* Li Xiao, Xianghong Hu, Guoquan Zhang College of Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou Email: scauxl@tom.com Received: Oct. 9th, 2012; revised: Oct. 30th, 2012; accepted: Nov. 7th, 2012 Abstract: This paper puts forward a new atmospheric quality assessment method that is, according to the combinatorial theories, using Goodness of Fit method to get weights to combine three models which are air pollution index method, cloud model and Projection Pursuit Grade method. The combined model is applied to the Hong Kong atmospheric quality assessment; the results show the method increases the evaluation performance, possesses more reliability and comprehension, and provides a new idea for the city atmospheric quality synthetically assessment. Keywords: Combined Model; Atmospheric Quality; Assessment 基于组合模型的城市空气质量评价优化法* 肖 莉，胡湘红，张国权 华南农业大学理学院，广州 Email: scauxl@tom.com 收稿日期：2012 年 10 月 9 日；修回日期：2012 年 10 月 30 日；录用日期：2012 年 11 月 7 日 摘 要：本文提出一种新的空气质量评价方法，即应用组合原理，以拟合优度法确定权重组合三个模型(API 法， 云模型及粒子群投影寻踪法)，并将之应用于香港空气质量评价中，实例表明该方法增加了评价性能，具有较强 的可靠性和全面性，为城市空气质量综合评价方法提供了一种新思路。 关键词：组合模型；空气质量；评价 1. 引言 我国正处于工业化和城市化发展的快速时期，而 环境质量仍在不断恶化，尤其是近年以来，由于经济 持续高速增长，使得环境压力明显增大，长期积累的 环境风险开始出现。在诸多环境问题中，空气污染造 成的损失尤其巨大，空气质量的控制成为各国环保机 构面临的一个重要课题，然而，要合理控制空气质量 的恶化，首先得对空气质量做出科学的评价，只有这 样才能有针对性的进行改善。目前国内外关于空气质 量评价方法的研究十分活跃，除了常用的方法如空气 * 污染指数法(Air Pollution Index，简称 API 法)、人工 神经元网格法、模糊聚类法、主成分分析法、灰色系...
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...In today’s society healthcare personnel need to be aware of the various chemical, environmental, food borne, water borne and airborne illnesses that abound. Being well versed in this area means understanding the epidemiology, being aware of the signs and symptoms, knowing what treatments or cures and knowing the notification process for outbreaks, should they arise. Severe acute respiratory syndrome also known as SARS is a type of viral Pneumonia that is very serious for those affected. It causes acute respiratory distress for the patient which can cause death. SARS is transmitted by contact. According to the U.S National Library of Medicine the coronavirus can live up to 6 hours on hands, tissues and some other surfaces and can stay active for up to three hours after the droplets have dried (A.D.A.M, 2013). The virus can live in feces for nearly four days and it is unknown exactly how long it can live in freezing temperatures but it is believed to live for months or maybe even years. The Coronavirus family is the same group that births the common cold, just as you can catch the cold over and over again, you can also become re-infected with SARS. Since this is a newer illness only manifesting in 2003 there are still unknowns regarding the illness. One of these things is how long before and after someone is contagious with the infection. It is clear that they are actively contagious while showing symptoms. Usually people who are infected will begin showing symptoms within...
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...INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTIONS ON AIR POLLUTION Lu Li, Zhaowei Liu ECON508: Applied econometrics May 10, 2013 Abstract In China, many environmental problems have been ignored when it mainly focused on a higher pace of economic growth for a long time. In this paper, we aim at finding the relationship between air pollutions and its potential contributor—industrial development. And we are also interested in finding out which department in industry contributes most to air pollution. With these questions, it is essential for us to bring our analysis into a practical and comprehensive content. In this paper, we choose air pollution indicators and industry output in provincial level, thus we would like to test it based on different regions. We use the fixed effect model to construct the data and use hypothesis testing to testify our model through three characteristics: normality, heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation. After the regression and test, we come to the conclusion that basically our model is an appropriate one although several data and time series problems limit its further accuracy. And what is more, the result is quite accordance with our assumption that industrial sectors do effect the environment to some extent and among all the sectors we discuss, mining is the most overarching element. In order to obtain a better and more convincing result, we still need more information about air quality in our further study and research. Keywords: air pollution; industrial sector ...
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...perspective. It lists some of the issues that are experienced as a result of poor air quality. Environments in which air quality issues are commonly found are also discussed in studies that have been conducted. What causes poor air quality and how they affect employees are communicated to provide a blueprint for organizations to use to prevent such concerns from becoming issues to their employees. Also outlined are ways for organizations to recognize and reduce air quality issues to minimize organizational productivity loss and workers compensation claims that sometimes come as a result of poor air quality. Introduction Employee safety and health concerns have changed drastically over the past couple of decades. They have moved from the bodily injuries of industrial workers to the ergonomic challenges of office workers. These concerns can range from carpal tunnel syndrome to air quality issues. “One of the downsides of opting for environmentally “green” office buildings can produce illnesses such as itchy eyes and trouble breathing, a phenomenon some called “sick building syndrome” (Dessler, 2013; 553). This has caused issues such as lack of productivity and increased absenteeism. Legionnaires’ disease, Pontiac fever, multiple chemical sensitivity, and asbestos are other issues that are linked to air quality concerns. To combat such issues, organizations try to proactively monitor air quality to reduce the negative effects that are experienced as a result of strategies...
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...Green Buildings: Better Quality of Life Design of buildings for sustainability – Case study presentation Prof. Bernard V. Lim JP Principal, AD+RG Architecture Design and Research Group Limited Professor, School of Architecture, The Chinese University of Hong Kong The Hong Kong Community College The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Client: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Project Manager: Campus Development Office, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Project Architect: AD+RG Architecture Design and Research Group Ltd. Architectural Collaborators: AGC Design Ltd. Wang Weijen Architecture Acknowledgements Received - Green Building Award 2008 Merit Award in the New Construction Category. by Professional Green Building Council - Highest BEAM (Building Environmental Assessment Method) rating of Platinum by HKBEAM Society. (The first educational building in Hong Kong to achieve such rating) Acknowledgements Received - Finalist in “World Architecture Festival 2008” in Barcelona on October 2008 - one of the 12 Finalists in the Learning Category and is the only Hong Kong architectural practice in this Category. 0.0 Project Brief (I) Introduction The Project is a high-rise 19-storey institutional building for the Hong Kong Community College. It aims at providing a dynamic and interactive space for youth education while incorporating the sustainable design considerations and construction techniques into the building. 4...
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... | |haque.nymul@gmail.com |jinia_lima@hotmail.com | Abstract Natural ventilation is most desirable for cooling and providing fresh air in residential buildings for better indoor air quality and thermal comfort. The natural ventilation performance is affected by a combination of internal and external factors. External factors include the location, the orientation, the prevailing wind speeds and the building forms of the residential development, which are subject to constraints beyond the control of site planners and architects. Whilst for internal factors like the openings configurations and window types, site planners and architects are always given free hand for a proper design. Dhaka, a city in the Tropics, has become such a city where with rapid urbanization users are moving towards mechanically ventilated buildings putting ever increasing demand on the dwindling energy resources. This paper focuses on the influences of window types on the natural ventilation of residential units in Dhaka in order to improve quality of indoor living environment. Primary objective of the study is an attempt to investigate the performance of different types of windows which is commonly used in residential buildings of Dhaka city. It is expected that the findings will immensely help design professionals practicing all climatic contexts...
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...Indoor air quality has become more and more important because most people spend more than 80% of their time indoors (APS, 2008). In the last several years, a growing number of scientific evidences have indicated that the air within homes, offices, or other indoor environment can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air (Sheldon, 1994). Indoors, the concentration of some harmful chemical and biological matters may be hundreds times higher than that outdoors (Sheldon, 1994). Thus, the situation that chemical, biological, and/or physical matters in the indoor air that cause harmful effects to human health is defined as indoor air pollution. One source of indoor air pollutant is chemical matter, which is caused by combustion, architecture material, and some other things. Combustion or burning is the sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat and conversion of chemical species (Wikipedia, Combustion, 2010). In the indoor environment, combustion refers to the use of oil, natural gas, wood, coal, charcoal, and tobacco. During this course, not only the oxygen in the house is consumed, but also much harmful gas like carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2), which is poisonous to human, is produced and flood into the air. Especially in developing countries, where people cook food with burning wood or coal, the indoor air pollution is more serious (WHO, 2010). Another source of chemical...
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...Air pollution in Hong Kong is often so bad that it is impossible to see across Victoria Harbor due to all the haze and smog. The government did endeavor to modify the air quality but, sadly, it still deteriorates continually. Even worse, the Air Pollution Index recently hit a record high, which suggests that the air quality in Hong Kong is far lower than the international standard. It all shows that air pollution is just a growing problem and I’m writing to raise several concerns about air pollution and suggest various ways in which Hong Kong citizens can help reduce air pollution. Let us begin with the cause of the problems, which includes three main aspects: vehicle emissions, unplanned use of land, and cross-border pollution. The first aspect concerns the vehicle emissions. With the increasing number of private cars, and the slow introduction of environmentally friendly fuels, the amount of air pollutants released by vehicles keeps increasing, thereby tarnishing the air quality. Secondly, the unplanned use of land can also account for the problems. Due to the limited land supplied, Hong Kong tends to be densely populated while the buildings are usually designed to be as tall as possible. All the buildings therefore form a physical barrier to block the ventilation of air. Consequently, pollutants like suspended particles are trapped in air, causing the air to be polluted. Cross-border pollution is the third aspect. There are currently numerous factories built...
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...according to EN-15251 and CR-1752, in the built environment based on the percentage of dissatisfied related to the equivalent background noise level. Design/methodology/approach – In the European guideline CR-1752 and the standard EN-15251 three categories of the indoor environment in buildings are prescribed (category A, B and C). In the recommendations, the limit whereby the percentage of dissatisfied should remain under varies in each category for both the thermal indoor environment and the air quality. The categories for noise and illumination criteria are not yet explicitly related to a percentage of dissatisfied. Findings – Using the percentage of dissatisfied as the evaluation criterion, when related to the equivalent background noise, produces a more refined evaluation of comfort than an evaluation based on the percentage of seriously disturbed or the effects of sleep deprivation in relation to external noise. Furthermore, this corresponds to the European standards and recommendations concerning quality classification of the indoor environment, based on the percentage of dissatisfied. Originality/value – Based on recent European undertakings concerning the development of categories for the indoor environment based on the percentage of dissatisfied, it is desirable to utilise these categories to noise aspects too, and to relate it to the equivalent background noise level. Keywords Environmental noise, Noise control, Dissatisfied, Discomfort, EN 15251, CR 1752, Comfort categories,...
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...BIO102 Environment and People Dr. Mike Mooring 09 December 2015 Indoor Air Pollution in Sub-Saharan Africa Introduction Environmental pollution is a major topic and a major global challenge that has become very popular over the last few decades. Air pollution has specifically gained major interests from researchers, governments, and international organizations due to the major impacts associated with it. When a topic such as air pollution is mentioned, most of the people will automatically link it to the idea of things like smog, power plants and emissions from vehicles. However, these are considered examples of outdoor air pollutants. There exists another class of pollutants, which pollute the air inside the houses. These are called indoor air pollutants. Indoor air pollution is when the indoor pollutants or things such as gases and particles contaminate the air indoors. Indoor air pollution refers to the pollution of the air inside the houses or the living spaces. It is the presence of one or more contaminants indoor that carry a certain degree of health risks. The sub-Saharan Africa is among the regions in the world that have been highly affected by indoor air pollution. The aim of this document is to discuss the challenge of indoor air pollution in the region of sub-Saharan Africa. Solid fuel is the major source of this indoor air pollution and particle suspension in the air of these homes. In this region where the population is too poor to be able...
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...1. Calculate WGBT and make recommendations on work – rest schedule: Q: On a sunny warm day (27 degrees C wet bulb, 30 degrees C globe and 29 degrees C air temp) how would work load affect required controls for heat stress? A: WBGTout = 0.7(WB) + 0.2(g) + 0.1(d) = (0.7 x 27) + (0.2 x 30) + (0.1 x 29) = 27.8 There for: At 27.8 WBGTout the dose of work would equal * Light work @ 100 % * Moderate work @ 100 % * High work @ 25 – 50 % work rest 2. In measuring noise exposure, you have identified several different sources of noise. They produce the following sound pressure levels: 92dB, 90dB, 85dB and 87dB. What is the combined sound pressure level of the four sources of noise? A: ** Start from highest to lowest ** 92dB – 90dB = 2 therefor 92 + 2 = 94 therefor 94 – 87 = 7 therefor 94 + 1 = 95 there for 95 – 85 = 10 therefor 95 + 0 ** because all values have been used the answer is 95. NOTE: numbers in bold and italicised writing are found on adding decibel chart 3. An employee had the following exposures in an 8 hour shift. Are they over exposed? 1hr @ 80dBA 4hrs @ 85dBA 2hrs @ 88dBA 1hr @ 91dBA A: ** First of all 80dBA does not have an exposure level so do not use it ** Dose = (4hrs/ 8hrs + 2hrs/ 4hrs + 1hr/ 2hrs) X 100 = 150% therefor YES the worker is over exposed these numbers are found from OHS code schedule 3 Noise if under 100 % the worker is not exposed, if over 100 % the worker is exposed 4. a) Local...
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... Some individuals state there is not much we can do to reduce the amount of smog in cities, however; there is a great deal we can do to help preserve our planet. Planting trees and plants, placing restrictions on manufacturing facilities and ensuring our vehicles are kept in proper maintenance are all ways we can help reduce smog in our city. The greener the planet, the more fruitful our future will be. Not only does planting trees and plants help to keep our community beautiful, it also helps to produce oxygen. It does this because the trees and plants take in carbon dioxide and in turn produce much-needed oxygen. When we cut down trees or get rid of gardens we are adding to the air quality problem. Companies can also do their part by restricting the production of chemicals into the air and recycling to reduce their ecological footprint on the Earth. In turn, these companies are then able to better produce products for consumers like gasoline for vehicles. Motor vehicles cause a great deal of damage to the environment and are one of the leading causes of smog in Edmonton. When we do not take care of our vehicles, they release more dangerous emissions than normal. All gas powered cars are obviously going to release some form of emission, but the more care we give to our engines, the lesser amount of problems we will produce. There is so much we can do to reduce the smog in the Edmonton region, however; everyone needs to do their part to help out or the effort could...
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...plus huge HVAC systems with leaky ductwork & connected garages. We spend more time in our homes with home offices, computers, video games, televisions (did you know that one person, breathing for 24 hours yields one gallon of water?). Our manufacturers have become more “technologically advanced” and are using tremendously toxic stuff in those things with which we adorn our home - from paint to carpet to furniture to cabinetry … into perpetuity. Air infiltration/exfiltration, and the moisture, mold and mildew that accompany it, is the single largest threat to a safe, healthy, comfortable, durable and energy-efficient home. All air flow needs is a pressure differential and a pathway to exchange filtered, conditioned inside air with toxic air from the garage, spore laden air from the crawl space and hot, moist outside air from the attic. Electrical switches, can lights and disappearing attic stairways are notorious energy thieves. The US Department of Energy tells us the average home built 20 years ago has a complete and natural air change every 35 minutes; one built today, every hour. This...
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...Signs and Symptoms Chronic dry cough,wheezing,congestion,difficulty in breathing, watery eyes, burning sensation in eyes,sore throat,nasal irritation and skin irritation. If these symptoms occur,seek medical attention. Interventions to prevent mold in Home Most important way to prevent mold is to control moisture. For effective control of moisture: 1.Fix all leaks immediately 2.Use dehumidifiers 3.Limit indoor plants 4.Use exhaust fans with vent out side the home. 5.Frequently check air ducts for mold growth. 6.Keep indoor humidity below 50% 7.Use mold killing products to clean bathroom 8.Add mold inhibitors to paint,before painting. 9.Avoid carpet in high moisture areas like bath rooms or basements. Treatment of mold in Home Mold growth can be removed from hard surfaces with commercial products, soap and water, or a bleach solution of no more than 1 cup of bleach in 1 gallon of water. Discard any fabric or papers with mold infection. When treating mold growth areas,wear appropriate protective equipments to avoid inhalation of mold or spores. Recommended protective devices are1-95 mask,goggles,and gloves. For larger area of mold growth,seek professional assistance. Useful Resources http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldguide.html: This site is about mold basics,prevention tips,health risks,guidance in mold clean up and protective equipments information. If mold growth covers more than 10 square feet,consult EPA's .This site gives directions for investigation,evaluation...
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