Episode 3:

Factors for well-being in offices

The most common disruptive factor is noise – practically not measurable in decibels, but through the intelligibility of speech. If there are people sitting at the next table whose language we don’t understand, we are hardly distracted. However, if someone is speaking in our language and we understand their sentences, we have to concentrate clearly on our own conversation. In the office, the other person is always talking about things that could affect our work. We inevitably listen and lose concentration. The above also results in disturbance from passers-by, who are more interesting as people than cars.

After emotional exhaustion, burnout also has “irritation” as a risk factor, as does work overload. The sensory organs are part of this overload and irritation. We have known sick building syndrome for longer than burnout, when more than 10% of the workforce in a particular building suffer from the same symptoms. This is often caused by odors that occur in new buildings. These are countered with ventilation via tilted windows when it is too cold to open them completely. This again results in very dry air with irritation of the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract and eyes, which is often interpreted by users as “and it must also be toxic”.

Poor ergonomics cause tension – sometimes through glare alone: The eyes and the visual situation have a major influence on the posture of the head and the spine. Of course, habituation effects also play a role, which are facilitated by co-determination in the planning phase.

It is even more difficult if multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is suspected. This very rare phenomenon (the tip of an iceberg) manifests itself in very unpleasant vegetative reactions, especially when exposed to odors. Headaches, burning of the mucous membranes, shortness of breath and pain are the most common symptoms. This could be an information-triggered symptom complex. The problem lies in constantly increasing sensitization and ultimately in social exclusion. MCS is a textbook example of how information can make you ill – or healthy. It is important to take complaints seriously at an early stage and not just insist on compliance with standards and laws. In companies, occupational medicine or the AUVA is consulted in such cases.

Ventilation

Of course, ventilation is not just about removing CO2 and chemicals. People want “fresh air”, whatever that means. It is often about a desired odor impression. We are holistically “biophilic” and do not feel comfortable in a sterile, white room with no windows and dead silence. There is also an optimum for ventilation, which is rarely the maximum. In recent winters, many hospitals have set the ventilation to “max” due to the risk of COVID. Without re-humidification, this resulted in very dry air with a relative humidity of less than 15 %.

Our airways are cleansed by the “mucus stream” and this is disposed of in the stomach by “empty swallowing” 2000 times a day – without eating or drinking. The eyes alone produce 500 ml of tear fluid per day. This contains protective substances and cell-splitting enzymes that attack bacteria, etc. From the bronchi, millions of cilia move the mucus upwards at a rate of 1.2 cm per minute. The middle ear is cleaned via the Eustachian tube. All of this is greatly reduced by dehydration – more infections are possible with fewer viruses in the air. In addition, the diameter of the exhaled water particles is so small, especially in the case of aerosol-borne viruses, that water evaporates quickly in dry air, the particles become even smaller and behave like gas. This means that the risk of infection does not end behind the baby elephant, but after sufficient dilution at a distance of around 20 meters. However, the measles virus is even more contagious than the Omikron variant.

Similarly, the minimum room height is only one condition for sufficient air. A bedroom can hardly be so large that without artificial ventilation with closed doors and windows and two people occupying it, it will not reach a sub-optimal range > 1500 ppm CO2. This can be tolerated for the last two hours of sleep, but 5000 ppm from halfway through the night is not. It is therefore possible to prove with an environmental medicine report that the protection target can be achieved in another way. The psychological effects of room height also depend on the color and brightness (and therefore also the lighting and illumination) of the ceiling, the view and height of the windows, the room acoustics and design language.

Summary

Serious violations of “species-appropriate” buildings – even if the OIB guidelines and the Workplace Ordinance are complied with – do not have to be. There are a handful of court-certified environmental physicians and architectural psychologists in Austria. It would therefore be ideal to consult them before the planning stage.

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