This must be the week from hell!

njjel

We have employees now who believe that the air quality in our building is making them suffer from upper respiratory problems. Have any of you experienced this problem in the past and if so how did you handle it? There are about 6 out of 40 employees who have made this statement. Two of them admittedly suffered from asthma prior to working here.

System

We've had something similar. Employees believed that there was mold spores in the building and it was making them sick. We called the health department and someone came with fancy equipment and checked the air. You can also call your workers comp carrier and they may follow up with you in getting the air tested.

What industry are you in? What is it they say is causing the problem? (besides 'air')

njjel

This is a law office. THey just think the air is not clean. (The vents have not been cleaned in years.)

Shadowfax

What an opening! I'm just waiting for the punsters and comics to take this and run - a law office with dirty air - indeed! I sense a whole bunch of new lawyer jokes coming in.

njjel

Never mind going there! What I need is advice, not lawyer jokes. Hear enough of them every day.

System

But seriously. How many honest lawyers in the world would really admit the problem was in the vents? I think both of them.

dchr9203

This is a legitimate concern. I once had an elderly gentleman claim that the building was making him sick. He was having serious allergic reactions to mold spores; he'd had his home checked w/clean report, and the only other place was the company. AS it was an older building, we did an environmental screening, and sure enough we had serious mold problems in the ventilation. They sprayed chemicals, moved his office, did everything you could without ripping out the ventilation system and starting anew. But it didn't do any good. I think once you get that stuff, its really hard to ever just clean it out of existing systems. There's even a school here in Alabama that had to send students home and completely isolate the building to try to kill the mold. Haven't heard lately how that's going. But kids and teachers were getting really sick anytime they were in the building for any lenghtg of time. So, all that to say, I suggest that an enrivonmental scan be done, OSHA will help with resources, to see if there is a problem, then let the experts in that kind of thing give you a plan of action. If it is a problem and since you're the employer, you have to provide a safe & "healthy" work environment. At the very least, if a scan comes back clean, you can show you've done your part.

Hunter1

Yes, but don't get OSHA involved. Your work comp carrier should have industrial hygienists on staff and they should do this testing as part of your loss control. Get the testing done and deal with the results, not with OSHA.

HRinNH

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 04-01-05 AT 01:08PM (CST)[/font][br][br]We had this problem at our manufacturing plant. Too many issues to go into here but we did have one office in the very center of the building (no windows) where the 3 employees were always sick. Even when new employees replaced former employees, they began getting sick soon. We had the air tested and found nothing abnormal. I believe it was that there was little circulation so dead air just hung around them.

We finally solved it by moving the employees into another area of the building where there was a window to open. They're rarely sick now. Cheaper fix than replacing the air/heat system. Maybe try one of those Ionic Breezes from The Sharper Image. It's supposed to work great.

Good luck!
Cheryl C.

Edit: Just received an e-mail from Home Depot with a special on air purifiers.

[u][url]http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=SuperFeatures2/Heating_and_Cooling/PM_Enviracare_Rebates_0305&cm_mmc=hd_email-_-ENVIROCARE_03_31_2005_opt_intele_list.txt-_-D-27X-_-tower1_inset[/url][\u]

Don D

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 04-01-05 AT 02:01PM (CST)[/font][br][br]These things will (EDIT: NOT) remedy what's called a 'sick building'. Mold spores of a serious nature or things seeping into systems and walls due to chemicals or extremely old buildings with systemic problems cannot be easily corrected. But with the lawyers, there is a thing called Hot Air Syndrome..............

pork1

NJJEL: YES, I advise that your company should err on the side of the employee. We did and we were glad for it. Contract with a licensed company to come in and take air samples and prove to the organization that there is or is not something wrong with the quality of the air and the environment of the work site. Our company had to put in over head fire springler system in the company headquarters building. The attic had to be disturbed for weeks while the contractor hung water pipes. A few weeks later one then two then three employees were sick and blaming their new illnesses on the attic insulation or asbestos in the attic (which was not disturbed). The dust and air in the attic was caused to mix with the air in space, in which we all worked. With the complaints our attorney advised to take immediate action to determine the quality of the air over a period of three weeks.

We did and we were glad for it. There was nothing wrong with our air quality and the fears of many were calmed. Two of the three actually had cancer (found early) and the other was an upper respiratory issue. We accepted the upper respiratory illness as a W/C claim, it was treated and the ee was soon back at work. The cancers were not identified with anything in the work place and were cured and happily returned to work over time.

Had we not taken the pro-active approach and gotten the lab data, we would not have been able to defend the complaints and might have been hung with damages down the road. The cost of the lab air quality samples and the one medical treatment of the one illness was nothing compared with an asbestos associated claim.

Err on the side of the employee!

PORK

njjel

Pork If nothing was found wrong w/the air quality why is it that you accept w.c. on the one employee? I'm curious.

pork1

NJJEL: The one was the only one that sought W/C and it took almost three weeks to test and get information back that the air was not a part of the issue. She was well and back to work before the test results were completed. The other two got sick but did not connect their problem to the air quality and did not make a complaint. We held out the claims as a possible, had it been the we would have retro processed the W/C claim. Our carrier led me through this situation very carefully. They and our liability insurance carrier were concerned that something may have disturbed the asbestos in the insulation (blown on product around steel beams). We all held our breath until we were sure and safe. The one claimant may or may not have been a victim of the bad air. Regardless, we were covered with W/C and our actions even if it had been the worst case situation.

As it all turned out none was really effected by the "bad air", but we did not know that at the time of the sicknesses and the contract work being done. It and was better to be wrong on the side of the employees and not right on down the line and time when we could have been facing cancer claims for something in the attic!

PORK

TN HR

Has there been a higher incidence rate of cancers, still births or birth defects? If so, log off the forum and call Erin Brokovitch.

Seriously, though, take the safe route and hire an environmental health company to come in and do this for you. I've had it done. They set-up little monitors throughout your building and then they come back in two weeks and download all the data. They then present you lab-certified results and will even plot danger or potential danger zones on a floorplan drawing so that you can perhaps consider HVAC changes or something to circulate air (or rotate workers).

Good luck. Don't let this one brew but at the same time calm down the hysterics and drama queens who love this type of stuff.

Gene

njjel

Gene do you recall the approximate cost?

TN HR

Figure on about 20 cents per square foot. This was in 1999. I think technology has gotten better with the sampling equipment they use and I've heard prices have come down.

deniseE

we have the same issue (among others) in our building...it's old and sat vacant for a long time with a lot of water damage.

it's worth it to have a company come in and evaluate and test...and if the results show that there is no mold or anything, share it with your ee's and demonstrate that you've done what you can.

On the other hand...you may find that there's a lot of work to do to make the builing safe.

In our case..we've found some mold and worked at cleaning that up...but we all sit and sneeze and suffer from sinus headaches while in the office...other than a new location, I think that's just the card we drew.

marc

We had a similar issue with three staff that shared space in a local welfare office. An old building - discovered mold. After the mold discovery was confirmed several welfare staff and our three EEs all complained about myriad issues and filed WC claims. The State moved the office to a mold free building and brought in the experts. All of the WC claims were denied by the carrier and all were appealed. The WC carrier brought in experts that were able to prove that there was no scientific link between the mold and the illnesses claimed. After 3 years of appeals - the claims were dismissed with the right to refile if they ever were able to prove a link to one of their illnesses.

System

njjel,

I sense your frustration with this situation. But please keep in mind that some of these people may suffer a lot of discomfort and illness because of dust that no one else notices. I have allergies, and my daughter had them a lot worse when she was young, so we've had a war on dust, including duct cleaning, filters, and the works. But at least it wasn't as bad as the wheat-free bread and the milk-free milk. And don't even ask about the goat cheese.

James Sokolowski
HRhero.com