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Poor air quality in the workplace can cause serious health problems. From short term irritation to long term respiratory disease and cancer. The trouble is you often cannot see, smell or taste the contaminants that cause the most harm.
Our air quality monitoring services measure airborne contaminants in your workplace and compare results against the Safe Work Australia Workplace Exposure Standards. You get clear data on what your workers are breathing and whether it is safe.
We test for a wide range of airborne hazards including gases, vapours, particulates, fumes and biological agents. The specific contaminants we target depend on your workplace activities. A welding shop needs different monitoring to a chemical warehouse or a food processing plant.
Common assessments include volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulphide, ammonia, formaldehyde and a range of metal fumes and mineral dusts. We also conduct general indoor air quality assessments for office and commercial environments.
We use both personal sampling and static area monitoring. Personal samples capture what the worker actually breathes during their shift. Area monitors identify emission sources and help evaluate ventilation effectiveness.
All sampling follows Australian and international methods including those specified by Safe Work Australia, NIOSH and OSHA. Our equipment is calibrated and maintained to ensure accurate, defensible results.
Raw numbers mean nothing without context. Our reports compare results against the relevant workplace exposure standards and explain what they mean in plain language. We categorise exposures as acceptable, approaching limits or exceeding standards. Each finding comes with practical control recommendations.
For specific contaminant monitoring, we also offer dedicated services for dust exposure, welding fumes, diesel particulate matter and respirable crystalline silica.
If ventilation is part of your control strategy, our LEV airflow assessment service can verify that extraction systems are performing as designed. For overall hygiene program development, consider our health and hygiene management plan service.
Air quality issues are not limited to industrial workplaces. Office buildings, schools, hospitals and commercial facilities can have significant indoor air quality problems that affect worker health and productivity. Common issues include carbon dioxide buildup from poor ventilation, volatile organic compounds from furnishings and cleaning products, biological contaminants from water damaged materials and fine particulates from nearby renovation work.
Our indoor air quality assessments for commercial environments measure carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, temperature, relative humidity, particulates and total volatile organic compounds. We assess ventilation rates against ASHRAE 62.1 guidelines and identify sources of contamination.
Poor indoor air quality causes symptoms that workers often attribute to other causes. Headaches, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, eye and throat irritation. These symptoms reduce productivity and increase absenteeism. Addressing air quality issues improves worker wellbeing and the bottom line.
For buildings that have experienced water damage, mould growth is a particular concern. Mould releases spores and mycotoxins that can cause respiratory disease and allergic reactions. We conduct targeted assessments for biological contaminants where water damage or visible mould growth is a concern.
Safe Work Australia publishes Workplace Exposure Standards for Airborne Contaminants, which set the maximum concentrations of specific chemicals that workers can be exposed to averaged over an 8 hour shift or a 15 minute short term period. These standards are reviewed periodically and some have been tightened significantly in recent years.
We start with a hazard assessment based on your workplace activities, materials used, processes performed and any existing health complaints. This identifies the priority contaminants for monitoring. We also review your Safety Data Sheets and speak with workers about their daily tasks to make sure we capture all potential sources.
Yes and it should be. The purpose is to measure what workers actually breathe during their normal working activities. Monitoring in an empty building or after a cleanout does not represent real exposure conditions. We conduct monitoring during normal operating hours and normal work activities to get accurate results.
After initial monitoring establishes a baseline, subsequent monitoring is typically scheduled annually or whenever there are changes to processes, materials or ventilation systems. If monitoring shows exposures are well below standards, you may be able to extend intervals. If exposures are near limits, more frequent monitoring is appropriate to detect any deterioration.
Exceeding the exposure standard requires immediate action. Interim controls such as increased ventilation or respiratory protection should be implemented straight away while longer term engineering controls are planned. We help you develop a prioritised corrective action plan and can conduct follow up monitoring to verify that controls are effective.