SAFETY SATURDAY: VENTILATION

The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.

- Ecclesiastes 1:6

Ventilation is the movement of air through spaces, undertaken to distribute clean air into those spaces or to remove air that has accumulated concentrations of dust, particles, odorants, or other compounds that affect the quality of that air. The term air quality refers to the concentration of pollutants, irritants, and other toxicants within the air - high quality air is air that has a low or subthreshold concentration of these compounds and low quality air has higher concentrations (Namieśnik et. al., 1992). Ventilation is used to maintain and ensure air quality by capturing pollutants, irritants, and toxicants at their points of generation, by diluting concentrations of compounds in the air to below threshold values to decrease the amount of pollutant or irritant breathed in by a person occupying that space, or to move volumes of polluted air out of a space entirely to circulate fresh air (Awbi, 2002; Seppanen & Fisk, 2004; Jayeoba & Awojobi, 2024). The preservation of air quality is a matter of public and occupational health concern, where compromised air quality is associated with increased incidence of noncommunicable lung diseases like emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder as well as the development of other diseases (Duan et. al., 2020).

The air quality in working environments can be negatively affected owing to the generation of pollutants from occupational tasks and from the production of metabolites from workers. Mechanical tasks like cutting, grinding, milling, finishing, and sawing can generate dusts whose polluting capacity depends on the material from which they were generated (Wu et. al., 2022). The use of curants, solvents, volatile organic compounds and other fumigant compounds may result in accumulations of aerosolised or volatile compounds (Pandey & Yadav, 2018). The running of engines or plant can introduce diesel particulate or fume matter into environments, and the combustion of substrates can create smoke (Morawska & Zhang, 2002). All of these factors affect their air quality of occupational environments at their point of generation as well as where this air circulates. Workers themselves may contribute to changes in air quality simply by existing in and navigating a space. Workers parking their cars in a parking lot or onsite yard may increase the concentration of automotive fumes and aerosolised rubber, workers engaging in physical activity in a space like warehousing, portering, manual handling or finishing may exhale excess carbon dioxide which can accumulate in the air (Wargocki, 2016). The accumulation of these byproducts of work and human habitation decrease air quality and can affect health. In environments where carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are not circulated, the accumulation of these compounds in small measure can increase the incidence of headaches, dizziness, and nausea (Scott et. al., 2009). In environments where fumes and diesel particulate matter accumulate, acute symptoms of nausea, chest pain, and breathing difficulties may develop into organ and lung damage if repeated exposure occurs (Sydbom et. al., 2001). It is important to remember that even nonindustrial environments can have poor air quality, where home offices and commercial retail spaces may have airborne dusts, pollens, sweat, and mould spores. A good rule of thumb is, if something smells, it's coming from somewhere and has dispersed into the breathing zone of the worker - an area in front of their nose and face from which inspired air of any quality is drawn.

Ventilation of working environments is the engineered control of airflow that introduces new air into or extracts contaminated air from working spaces (Burgess et. al., 2004). This ventilation is undertaken by the mechanical work of fans, ducts, and filters which move air from one point to another. The simplest example of mechanical ventilation is the use of an oscillating fan to move air over a worker's face and desk without ruffling their paperwork, and which can be purchased from a retailer and installed with no issue. Beyond desk fans, air conditioners and filter systems can be used to circulate into and remove contaminants from working areas - air conditioners can be installed by tradespeople and filter systems can be purchased from retail stores. All of these devices engage with the basic principles of ventilation for the maintenance of air quality - of moving air into or out of a space and of extracting or filtering contaminants out of the air. Ventilation can be undertaken passively where the movement of air due wind movement can circulate air through a space. However, where the wind blows air out, so too can it draw environmental contaminants into a space, which can be as benign as dust or pollen or more severe in the case of smoke or fume blowoff (Hatherly, 2017). Additionally, the isolation of workspaces in order to control the dispersal of other hazards such as noise, vibration, for the privacy and confidentiality of workers or the containment of plant, may mean that environmental ventilation is inappropriate for the building or work area and so ventilation will need to be mechanically driven. To this end, the ventilation of a space can be organised to remove toxicants from the air, to introduce and circulate air, and to filter the air.

Where airborne contaminants are generated and dispersed from points of mechanical action like grinding, welding, scaling, or drilling, these contaminants can be extracted using tool-mounted extraction and suction systems. These are actively driven ventilation systems that extract pollutants from the air by creating a vacuum designed to capture particles before they can travel too far (Flynn & Susi, 2012). This means that the vacuum generated by the extraction system should be powerful enough and appropriately oriented to capture dispersed particles. The system should also direct captured particles to a filtration medium to make sure those toxicants are either collected or rendered inert. Using on-tool extraction can significantly improve local air quality by minimising toxicant dispersal, but mounting extraction vacuums on tools can make the tool unwieldy and affect the user fit of the workstation (Ceballos et. al., 2014). Where the extraction system is vented into a collector, the vent needs to move through the workspace and air pressure within the vent needs to be maintained to circulate entrained air and captured pollutants. In practice, the means that a vacuum motor needs to generate a significant amount of airflow to keep particles moving and stop them from falling out of circulation while being extracted into the collecting medium (Bromwich et. al., 2020). The arrangement of collecting medium, vents, orientation of capture apertures and the movement of tools all affect the airflow properties of the extraction system, whose performance can degrade owing to changes in any of these elements as well as owing to the mechanical wear of the vacuum itself over time and as a consequence of ongoing use (Ellenbecker et. al., 1983). The entrainment of particles into extraction ventilation systems can also affect the aerodynamic properties of those systems in addition to the loss of power that is experienced owing to the aforementioned reasons - the falling-out of particles and the accumulation of deposits of dust, grime, or other things inside the venting can also negatively affect extraction ventilation performance (Holopainen, 2004).

Airborne contaminants can also be extracted using ventilation systems like those used to cool and circulate air through residential buildings. The most common example of these ventilation systems are the ceiling and occasionally wall vents found in commercial offices and retail stores. These vents function in the same way as tool-mounted extraction solutions while being placed further away from the points from which a contaminant may be dispersed. Building-mounted extraction ventilation may also not be as powerful as tool-mounted extraction ventilation, and given the installation distance from points of particle generation, building-mounted ventilation may not be as effective as tool-mounted ventilation at extracting contaminants in the air (Kee-Chiang, 1998). However, this does not mean that permanent or structural extraction ventilation is inappropriate for air control. Common examples of structurally installed extraction ventilation are fans in bathrooms and showers that pull out moisture and odours, rangehood fans, and fans installed in the walls of garages. In these cases, air might be directed into a simple filter and then vented outdoors. In more formal arrangements of ventilation as might be used in an office building, in a garage for fume capture, in a restaurant for the capture of vapours, oils, and smokes, or in medical and surgical suites to circulate fresh air, the extracted air may be directed via vents into a filtration system that treats the air before venting it outdoors. The installation of extraction systems into the ceilings and walls of rooms provides the means to continually manage local air quality, ensuring a degree of continuous airflow to prevent settling of damp, mould and dust, the efficiency of other air filtration, and the extraction of the air and its direction to treatment media (Vallero, 2025). The treatment of air before its release into the external environment is undertaken to capture and control concentrations of particulates, to dilute or otherwise reduce the concentration of pollutants, to ensure it is free of odours or other irritants, and to protect the health of the outside environment (Ye et. al., 2017). It should also be noted that air released into the environment from one workplace can enter another workplace if it is drawn in through that workplace's air conditioning (Burgess & Ellenbecker, 2004). In this way, pollutants, toxicants and irritants can be generated from one workplace or even within a single workplace and entrained elsewhere if it is not adequately captured and controlled.

Where extraction ventilation is not practicable to install, the introduction of fresh air from the external environment can be used to circulate contaminated air elsewhere, be that into a capture and control system, to a filter, or some other means. This is most typically done through air conditioning, examples of which abound in homes, home offices, and in small spaces. Air conditioning is the mechanical treatment of air to control its temperature, humidity, cleanliness, and to distribute that treated air into a space to ensure the comfort, habitability, and workability of that space (McQuiston et. al., 2023). The widespread accessibility and operation of air conditioners to support human comfort is one of the great inventions of the twentieth century, enabling advancements in construction, space usage, the sustainability of large buildings and of the concentration of the workforce. Where work is done in an area by people over a period of time, a minimum volume of fresh air must be introduced to that space in order to provide those workers with clean air of appropriate quality to sustain their work. Where the work is physically vigorous, where the space is larger or smaller, where there are more people in the space, or where the space is used for specific activities like childcare, surgery, or other non-office work, the volume of air required will change as per AS 1668.2-2012. For example, a large number of workers working vigorously in an enclosed space such as workers in a kitchen, enclosed warehouse, or mixing plant will require more fresh air than a single worker working alone. The amount of fresh air needed will also vary seasonally and with the treatment of air - where working in different climates, different times of the day, and in different arrangements of shifts will impose different demands on workers and thus require different variations of ventilation support.

Air in working environments needs to be kept fresh to support worker comfort and wellbeing. This can be achieved through filtration systems that can draw toxicants out of the air while still in an environment. Filters, entrained in extraction ventilation systems, used to treat air before it is drawn in using air conditioning, or running as separate plant powered by powerpoint or independently operated, draw air in, pass it through filter media, and pass out clean air into the environment (Maduna & Patnaik, 2017). The effectiveness of the filtration will depend on the particles being filtered and the capacity and properties of the media being used, which should be changed regularly to prevent colonisation of the filter media by microorganisms and bacteria which can then be propagated within the downstream environment (Al-Abdalaal et. al., 2019). The filtration membrane can be changed to filter for different irritants, but in order to capture those pollutants the filter will need to draw in air at different speeds to prevent those toxicants from falling out of the air and settling on surfaces. This creates an issue if the filter is drawing air in at too high a speed, which can damage the filtration medium. This obviously is counterproductive. The positioning of the filter within the room is important as well, so that the noise of operation, expelled air, and location of the filter do not expose workers to excess noise, vibration, or irritation and also so that they do not interrupt the flow of people moving in and out of the space.

The design of ventilation in working environments is best undertaken during the design and layout phases of those environments with consideration of the work that may be done in different areas and the utilisation of those spaces, in order to incorporate consideration of risk control through design in the engineering phase higher in the Hierarchy of Controls (Safe Work Australia, n.d.). However, in home offices, shared and rented spaces, or ad-hoc working environments, prior consideration of design may not be possible. In these cases, ad-hoc ventilation and circulation of air can be achieved by using consumer plant like desk fans and filters, all of which can be purchased from homegoods stores. These should be positioned in a room in a way that does not clutter the space, interfere with movement, expose the worker to excess noise or other irritation, and which provides access to fresh air. It is important that rooms are aired regularly so as to freshen the air, and that mesh screens are used to prevent ingress of debris, bugs, and other creepy crawlies from the outside world. Where internal environments are damp or are found to have a concentration of mould spores, effort should be taken to clean the air and minimise humidity, either with a powered dehumidifier, by works that minimise the entry of poor quality air or the inappropriate movement of air between rooms owing to drafts or gaps between windows and walls, and by controlling the temperature of the room being mindful of environmental humidity and air movement so as to minimise the likelihood of developing condensation inside the room. In addition to this, regularly repainting and repairing window glass, frame seals, cracks in walls, flooring, and any vents in the walls used for passive cooling may also be effective in managing the movement of air in and out of a space. If a workspace is made airtight, then air must circulate within that space lest it become stale and saturated with irritants, malodorants, and become unpleasant for human occupation.

The Model Work Health and Safety Act describes that the primary duty of care of a person conducting a business or undertaking is to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers engaged, or caused to be engaged by the person; and workers whose activities in carrying out work are influenced or directed by the person, while the workers are at work in the business or undertaking (Safe Work Australia, 2025). To this end, Division 2, Section 19 of the Act breaks down the primary duty of care to direct that without limiting earlier subsections, a person conducting a business or undertaking ensures so far as is reasonably practicable the provision and maintenance of a work environment without risks to health and safety, as well as the provision and maintenance of safe plant and structures, the provision of adequate facilities for the welfare at work of workers in carrying out work for the business or undertaking, including ensuring access to those facilities, as well as that the health of workers and the conditions at the workplace are monitored for the purpose of preventing illness or injury of workers arising from the conduct of the business or undertaking. To this end, the installation, monitoring, and servicing of appropriate ventilation systems is necessary to protect the health, wellbeing, and sustainable participation of workers, whether they work in an office, in their home, in a workshop, or on the road.

None of this information constitutes medical, legal, occupational health and safety, best guidance, standard, or other guidance, instruction, or prescription.

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Declaration: No artificial intelligence or assistive intelligence was used in the creation of this work.