When it comes to our health and safety, everybody needs clean air both at home and at work. Air quality should be a topic of discussion for people living in different areas and working in different types of jobs. However, clean air is especially important for people who work or live in industrial areas. In industrial settings, poor air quality can be extremely damaging to health, even leading to serious respiratory health problems and poor health in general. Industrial air pollution is something to at least be aware of in every industrial workplace.
Industrial Air Pollution Explained
There are various different ways that the air can be polluted, and different particles and chemicals that can lead to contamination. Industrial air pollution is defined as any type of air pollution that can be traced back to industrial particles as the source. This could include refineries, factories, manufacturing facilities, and power plants, for example. These can cause several common industrial air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, dust, smoke, soot, sulfur dioxide, and lead particles.
Poor Industrial Air Quality – The Dangers
Research suggests that industrial air pollution may be more dangerous than emissions from cars on the road. A study from 2009 looked at air information from areas with heavy traffic and areas near industrial oil refineries and compared the two, finding that respiratory issues in children living nearby were more common in the industrial areas. Another study found that children who lived near cement works experienced a significant increase in respiratory issues including blocked noses, sore eyes, and sore throats which may have been the result of exposure to emissions from the industrial site.
How Industrial Air Quality Differs
Most people think of air pollution as an outdoor problem, but the truth is that indoor air pollution can cause just as many issues as outdoor air pollution. In fact, since people tend to spend more time indoors than they do outdoors these days, indoor air quality is arguably even more important to consider. There are various indoor air pollutants that may not always be associated with industrial air pollution, including household chemicals, dust, and pet dander, which may be mild problems in some residential homes.
However, in an industrial setting, those who are working inside factories, manufacturing plants, or power plants, for example, may be exposed to more air pollutants at work compared to most. Toxins from the industrial setting may be at higher concentrations indoors compared to outdoors, putting employees and visitors to the site at risk when it comes to their respiratory health and other health concerns. Commercial air purification is key to ensuring that everybody on an industrial site is able to remain safe and healthy.
Staying within the Law
Along with protecting employee health and the health and wellbeing of people who are living or working around the industrial site area, it’s important for industrial settings to focus on air quality in order to ensure that their activities are lawful. There are several different federal laws that are in place to provide standards to adhere to when it comes to air quality, including the Air Pollution Control Act 1955, which was the first federal law to address air quality directly.
The law did not actively improve air quality but began the process by providing funds for technical assistance and air quality research. In 1970, the Clean Air Act allowed emissions standards to be set with the main goal of public health improvement. Under this law, states were directed to take action, and each state was given the power to design and implement its own plans for enforcement. In 1990, there were several substantial amendments made to the Clean Air Act, including the creation of several different mandates, such as the control of several toxic pollutions, and permit programs introduced.
How to Ensure Clean Air in Your Industrial Business
If you own or run a company that carries out industrial works and has the potential to harm the respiratory health of your employees, visitors to the site, or even the nearby community, then there is a lot of responsibility on you to ensure that this is kept to a minimum. Even businesses that seem to be harmless at first glance in terms of air quality might have issues that are not obvious. Anything that involves manufacturing, wood manufacturing, cooking, or cement, for example, could have issues with air pollution or low quality of air for employees at least.
Even if your facility is not putting out any air pollution into the wider area that impacts the community, there are various sources of indoor air pollution that might be affecting your staff such as fuel emissions from equipment powered by gas, dust from manufacturing operations, or toxins from chemicals that are used.
Ventilation
One of the first things to do when it comes to improving air quality in your facility is to ensure proper ventilation. The right ventilation system can do a lot to improve the air quality, especially if you have ongoing operations that involve a lot of dust. Getting the right ventilation system in place could be one of the most effective ways to clean the air and remove many of the harmful contaminants that can lead to respiratory health problems.
Air Purifiers
Industrial settings can also benefit from industrial air purifiers or air purifiers that are designed for commercial purposes. There are air purifiers on the market that are designed to work in large rooms or manufacturing facilities to provide better air quality for industrial employees and reduce the risk of associated health problems.
PPE
There are various types of personal protective equipment that are designed to help employees combat the impact of poor air quality in an industrial setting. While you may have other measures in places such as proper ventilation and air purifiers running in the facility, it may be necessary in some cases for employees to further protect themselves with personal protective equipment such as face masks or even respirators, particularly in the case of employees who are working in very close proximity to the pollutants or toxic materials.
Regular Reviews
Once you have the measures in place to improve air quality in your industrial facility, you should not stop there. Conduct reviews of the facility on a regular basis to ensure that the design and the measures you have put in place are still providing the best possible air quality for the workers. Make sure that any employee concerns regarding air quality in the facility or other work sites are properly documented, thoroughly investigated, and taken to experts who can put further measures in place to improve the air quality and ensure that the working environment is kept safe.
Safety Culture
Getting everybody involved in a culture of safety in the workplace is important, not only for general hazards but also when it comes to air quality. Providing education to employees when it comes to the steps that they can take to maintain good air quality and protect themselves from air pollution and toxic materials in the workplace is important. Make sure that employees know what to look out for, what to report, and who to report any issues to in order to ensure that any air quality issues can be rectified quickly.
In industrial settings, air quality is often a more important topic compared to anywhere else. Since there is great potential for health problems, it’s crucial that all industrial facilities have measures in place to improve air quality, protect employees, and protect the nearby community.
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