A healthy, safe return to work with Fellowes

Leading commercial air purification manufacturer, Fellowes, is calling on landlords, business owners and facilities managers to proactively approach occupant health with new measures, particularly as the nation returns to work.

This follows a global push for buildings to become ‘healthier’ by installing air cleaners, ventilators or purification systems to prevent the spread of SARS-COV-2 and other harmful particles.

With some employees beginning to return to work following COVID-19 restrictions, the health and safety of building occupants is naturally in the spotlight.

With research reporting airborne transmission of the virus as one of the biggest risks of the past year, there is now a particular emphasis on the importance of clean air.

BMJ report

A recent report by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) advised that although wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and keeping windows and doors open will help to reduce transmission of disease, an air ventilation or air purification system should be installed to minimise risk further.

This advice has also been underpinned by other organisations globally, including Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).  

However, air purification expert, Fellowes is advising that installation of such solutions should not just be a knee jerk reaction to the pandemic, and instead should be considered as part of a wider business strategy to improve employee safety, wellbeing and productivity long term.

For example, research from Harvard and Syracuse Universities found that the quality of workspace air can be directly linked to employee productivity. The study found by improving ventilation and reducing indoor pollutants, cognitive function was vastly increased, with employees performing 61% better on cognitive tasks than in the standard office conditions.

Fellowes is therefore urging decision makers to place air quality high on the agenda as part of any updated health and wellbeing strategy, in order to prevent the spread of viruses and improve employee productivity.

The company is emphasising the need for a considered approach to the correct specification of such solutions to ensure compatibility with the needs of the building and its occupants.

‘Air purification certainly plays a significant role in an overall strategy to improve occupant health’

Tim Browning, Air Treatment Specialist at Fellowes explains: “For high traffic areas or spaces like conference rooms where people are likely to congregate, it is important to have a system like AeraMax Pro that changes the air more than once per hour.

“AeraMax Pro purifiers are designed to deliver up to five air changes per hour, which means the air is cleaned every 12 minutes. This is a really important consideration when it comes to occupant safety as the more changes per hour, the more quickly the air is purified, and contaminants are removed.  

“Workplaces are not only an opportunity for viruses to spread, but also present exposure to dust particles, pollutants and chemicals that can emanate from office equipment, carpets, paint and furniture as well as passing traffic to name a few.

“These studies demonstrate the profound impact this can have on employee health and wellbeing and the importance of clean air.”

“Air purification certainly plays a significant role in an overall strategy to improve occupant health. As the name suggests, air purifiers work to measure and control air quality – keeping harmful airborne particles to an absolute minimum.

“Our AeraMax Pro air purifiers are the only models available that combine True HEPA filtration with EnviroSmart™ and PureView™ Technologies to ensure the air is cleaned effectively.

“What’s more, our AeraMax Pro air purifiers have shown a 99.99% airborne reduction of a coronavirus surrogate (coronavirus 229E) within 60 minutes of operation – so you can trust that building occupants are protected from biological contaminants as well as chemical pollutants and particles.”