How Indoor Air Quality Impacts Your Business
03/10/2021
There isn’t a business on the face of the planet that doesn’t want to maximize the productivity of its employees, which explains why so many corporate offices invest thousands upon thousands of dollars in motivational speakers and company-wide programs each year meant to boost that productivity. However, air pollution could be among the culprits impacting employees’ ability to work their smartest and hardest, and most simple indoor air quality testing could put your business on a path toward improving profitability.
Three Ways Air Quality Affects Business
1. Air Pollution Correlates With Sick Leave Increases
It shouldn’t come as any big surprise that air pollution negatively impacts people’s general health, including increased respiratory symptoms like coughing, difficult breathing, or airway irritation. The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of all deaths related to stroke, heart disease, and lung cancer are a result of air pollution, so the impacts are dire.
From the perspective of a business, more air pollution means more sick employees, and more sick employees are bound to lead to an increase in sick leave requests and general absenteeism. Your business will function at its best when all its employees are in the building, working together. That will happen more often in clean air.
2. Air Pollution Impacts Human Cognition
Cognition is the process of thinking, including everything from memory to decision-making to critical analysis. Knowing how valuable these skills are to any workplace, having them diminished because of air pollution is something to be taken very seriously.
Studies continue to show that particulates in the air are impacting the quality of our thinking, so it begs the question, why aren’t we doing more to create the most creativity-friendly workplace possible by improving air quality?
3. Air Pollution Makes Humans Risk-Averse
Not only can this pollution hamper our cognitive abilities, but it also can make us more averse to risk. One study performed by Columbia University found that stockbrokers working in more polluted workplaces were less likely to take risks, impacting their gains over time.
Great businesses have to take risks, but poor air quality can hamper our judgment to take the necessary risks to maximize profitability.
What Can Your Business Do About This?
The first step toward avoiding these pitfalls is to arrange an indoor air quality test with the professionals here at Air Services. If we determine that your air quality is putting your employees at risk (especially those with allergies and/or asthma), we can begin the process of correcting the issues and making the air cleaner to breathe for you and your employees.
We do this through the following air quality improvement services:
● Air duct cleaning
● Air filter replacement
● Air purifier installation
● Electronic air cleaner installation
● Dehumidifying
● Mechanical ventilation
● General vacuuming and cleaning
Some combinations of these services will increase your air quality and therefore boost production and profitability for your business. It’s not something many business owners consider in terms of making business-wide improvements, but a boost in air quality often can go a long way toward achieving positive company-wide results than that expensive motivational speaker.