{"id":2300,"date":"2020-09-01T14:08:40","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T13:08:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.btaloos.co.uk\/?p=2300"},"modified":"2020-09-01T14:08:40","modified_gmt":"2020-09-01T13:08:40","slug":"hse-guidance-on-ventilation-and-air-conditioning-systems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.btaloos.co.uk\/?p=2300","title":{"rendered":"HSE Guidance on Ventilation and Air Conditioning systems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Air conditioning and ventilation during the coronavirus outbreak: <\/strong>
Received in Septemeber 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This guidance is based on the latest\ninformation and may be updated as and when new information becomes available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

General\nventilation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employers must, by law, ensure an\nadequate supply of fresh air in the workplace and this has not changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good ventilation can help reduce the\nrisk of spreading coronavirus, so focus on improving general ventilation,\npreferably through fresh air or mechanical systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where possible, consider ways to\nmaintain and increase the supply of fresh air, for example, by opening windows\nand doors (unless fire doors).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also consider if you can improve the\ncirculation of outside air and prevent pockets of stagnant air in occupied\nspaces. You can do this by using ceiling fans or desk fans for example,\nprovided good ventilation is maintained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The risk of transmission through the\nuse of ceiling and desk fans is extremely low providing there is good\nventilation in the area it is being used, preferably provided by fresh air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air\nconditioning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The risk of air conditioning\nspreading coronaviru s (COVID-19) in the workplace is extremely low as long as\nthere is an adequate supply of fresh air and ventilation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can continue using most types of\nair conditioning system as normal. But, if you use a centralised ventilations\nsystem that removes and circulates air to different rooms it is recommended\nthat you turn off recirculation and use a fresh air supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You do not need to adjust air\nconditioning systems that mix some of the extracted air with fresh air and\nreturn it to the room as this increases the fresh air ventilation rate. Also,\nyou do not need to adjust systems in individual rooms or portable units as\nthese operate on 100% recirculation. You should still however maintain a good\nsupply of fresh air ventilation in the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re unsure, ask the advice of\nyour heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) engineer or adviser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ventilation<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

General ventilation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
  • All workplaces need an adequate supply of fresh air<\/li>
  • This can be natural ventilation, from doors, windows etc or\ncontrolled, where air is supplied and\/or removed by a powered fan<\/li>
  • If you work in an office or shop, natural ventilation will\nnormally be enough to control dusts and vapours from cleaning materials etc<\/li>
  • Sometimes planned, powered general ventilation is an integral\npart of a set of control measures, eg the welding of large fabrications in a\nworkshop<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Local exhaust\nventilation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    • Local exhaust ventilation (LEV), or extraction, is an\nengineering control solution to reduce exposures to dust, mist, fume, vapour or\ngas in a workplace<\/li>
    • Use a properly designed LEV system that will draw dust, fume,\ngases or vapour through a hood or booth away from the worker<\/li>
    • An extraction system should be easy for workers to use and\nenclose the process as much as possible<\/li>
    • It should effectively capture and contain the harmful substance\nbefore it is released into the working environment<\/li>
    • Air should be filtered and discharged to a safe place<\/li>
    • The system should be robust enough to withstand the process and\nwork environment. It is important to maintain it and undertake tests to ensure\nit is working effectively<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Things to avoid when applying LEV<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Common errors in applying extraction are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      • the effectiveness of small hoods is usually overestimated \u2013 be\nrealistic<\/li>
      • the hood is usually too far away from the process<\/li>
      • the hood doesn\u2019t surround the process enough<\/li>
      • inadequate airflow<\/li>
      • failure to check that the extraction continues to work<\/li>
      • workers are not consulted, so they don\u2019t understand the\nimportance of extraction and do not use it properly  <\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Air conditioning and ventilation during the coronavirus outbreak: Received in Septemeber 2020 This guidance is based on the latest information and may be updated as and when new information becomes available. General ventilation Employers must, by law, ensure an adequate supply of fresh air in the workplace and this has not changed. Good ventilation can<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2265,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.btaloos.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2300"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.btaloos.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.btaloos.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.btaloos.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.btaloos.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2300"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.btaloos.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2301,"href":"http:\/\/www.btaloos.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2300\/revisions\/2301"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.btaloos.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.btaloos.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.btaloos.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.btaloos.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}