Retire Unhealthy Air at Work

Is the air at work making you sick? If so, it's time for that air pollution at work to retire. Whether you work in an industrial or office setting, common allergens, irritants and asthma triggers may be closer than you realize.

Need to learn more about what can pollute indoor air and how it can affect your health? Read our blog on indoor air. Check it out, and we'll get back to work.

While it may be relatively easy to directly fix air issues in your home, your workplace may be another story. You may have to collaborate or at least communicate your concerns with your management, co-workers and building ownership. But don't let that stop you! Remember, others may share your concerns and often simple solutions exist. Here are some steps you can take to create a more lung-friendly workplace:

• Make your workplace tobacco-free: Establish a 100 percent tobacco-free workplace environment. Here is a sample tobacco-free policy you can download.
• Go fragrance-free: Scented cleaning products or fragrances like colognes, perfumes, scented soaps or lotions can be powerful asthma triggers. A fragrance-free policy in your building can help protect everyone, but especially those with chronic lung disease like COPD or asthma. To get started, download this sample Fragrance-free Policy and this sample Letter to Building Management about using fragrance-free cleaning products.
• Ventilate, ventilate, ventilate: Just like in your home, proper ventilation is important in your workplace. Properly operated and maintained HVAC systems will help reduce dampness and mold and other allergens and irritants. To get started, learn more about dampness and mold in buildings, effective building ventilation, and institute an HVAC Checklist to help keep track of HVAC maintenance.
• Use integrated pest management: Exposure to pesticides can cause both short-term and long-term health problems. Integrated Pest Management is an effective and environmentally-sensitive approach to pest management, relying on a combination of common-sense practices.

Where you work should never make you labor to breathe. Our Guide to Safe and Healthy Workplaces has much more. If you have asthma, we have two new resources to help: Asthma in the Workplace and our online Guide to Controlling Asthma at Work.

Quittin' Time

So you've cleaned up the air at work, but what about the air you breathe after work? We've got you covered with blogs about healthy air at home and school.  You might be surprised by what gets in the air in those places. Our tools and tips can help you find and fix air quality problems there.

Keeping our indoor air clean and healthy is a big job! The American Lung Association works for healthy air and healthy lungs every day. But we can't do it without your help! Join us and we can all breathe healthy, indoors and out.