The pleasure (or harm) is in the work itself : an OHS mixed method study comparing work environments in two differently ventilated buildings for physiological and physical parameters including; quantification of Indoor mycological flora, sick building syndrome symptoms and water & moisture measurements within these buildings as markers of quality

Abstract

The aim of this research was to obtain data using a variety of tools in order to determine if there is an association between building materials, indoor microbial contamination and the general health conditions from workers in purposely selected buildings; one naturally ventilated and one mechanically ventilated building, both with air conditioners. Other data collected included Water Activity and Moisture content from building materials. The data for occurrences of symptoms related to building occupancy was collected using a survey. These symptoms include but not limited to various types of irritations and headaches; the respondents were asked to rate the physical indoor environment of their office. The second part of data gathering was aimed to collecting data for ‘Water Parameters’ from various building materials using destructive techniques. The third part of data collection involved the sampling and analysis of air and surface samples for microbial contamination Results do not show that that the type of building influences the SBS symptomology occurrence, but nevertheless show an association between SBS symptoms and the ‘Scale’ the worker is employed, with lower scaled workers reporting higher occurrences. Similar findings were found when data for female workers was analyzed. Water Parameters show a clear difference in the quality of the building materials used for the building. Faculty of Economics, Management & Accountancy although much older than the Faculty of Health Sciences, is comprised of building material that has better levels of Water Activity and Moisture in most of the materials tested. Microbial air quality showed normal levels for microbial contamination excepted for office environments.