Improving and upgrading worksite ventilation is being seen by a new study as one sure means to minimize the effects of the Delta variant of Covid 19.
Writing in the Harvard Business Review, two health experts, while supporting increased vaccinations for workers, contend that “increasing the amount of air that’s exchanged indoors decreases the likelihood of infection in the workplace.”
Jeff Levin-Scherz, a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Patricia Toro, a physician trained in infectious diseases, say that “improving ventilation doesn’t always require expensive renovations.”
On the contrary, the authors say, “Many workplaces can add more air exchanges and improve the filtration systems on existing air-handling systems, and some can open windows.”
A recent report in the website Vox remarks: “The most obvious way to ventilate, especially during the summer and early fall, is to keep windows open and keep doors open to outside hallways.”
Continues Vox: “Most office buildings have central HVAC systems, and a really good one will provide four to six air exchanges per hour, meaning that every 10 or 15 minutes, the indoor air is being replaced by fresh air from outside.”
The Harvard Business Review authors, however, discourage the use of ultraviolent lighting as an anti-Covid tool. Last year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration suggested that ultraviolet lamps might be helpful in disinfecting surfaces.
Levin-Scherz and Toro contend that there is “little evidence” that such lighting has done much to curb Covid 19.
The authors also emphasize the continued use of masks and distancing in the workplace, emphasizing the need to keep workstations as clean as possible.
Noting that normal cleaning is generally adequate to protect against infections, the authors contend that “disinfection can be reserved for high-touch, high-traffic surfaces.”
While the latest version of Covid is not expected to go away any time soon, the authors add, “employers must remain vigilant and implement existing and new processes that are proven to keep employees, customers, and communities safe while meeting their organizations’ needs.”
By Garry Boulard