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Air Conditioning and COVID

Whilst employers have always been obliged by law to ensure that there’s an adequate supply of fresh air in enclosed areas of the workplace, ensuring that buildings are properly ventilated has never been as important as it has during the pandemic.

Coronavirus is an airborne disease and is thus spread by people breathing out small particles of the virus and infecting those around them. Inherently, if a room does not have an adequate air conditioning system and ventilation measures in place, the risk of the virus spreading is significantly higher. Yet, air conditioning systems can still be used, as long as the rooms are properly ventilated. The Health & Safety Executive guidance supports this, releasing information saying “The risk of air conditioning spreading coronavirus (Covid-19) in the workplace is low as long as there is an adequate supply of fresh air and ventilation”.

In modern buildings (often offices and hotels) HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) systems ensure that fresh air is circulated when using air conditioning, which drastically decreases the risk of the virus spreading. Stale air can be extracted from the rooms and piped to an air handling unit (often the roof). On the roof, clean air can be extracted from outside and cooled in the process of being released back into the building. HVACs can also be beneficial as there is the option of changing the settings to maximise the amount of fresh, outdoor air which is passed through the system.

Of course, not all buildings have a sufficient HVAC system in place, due to the costs incurred during installation. Therefore, businesses have been advised to assess areas where there is no natural ventilation (open windows, doors or vents) or mechanical ventilation (fans or ducts bringing air in from outside), as insufficient ventilation means air conditioning should not be used. In these cases, The Health and Safety Executive has suggested that businesses relax dress codes in order to ensure that poor ventilation and air conditioning lowers the chances of people becoming too hot or cold in their workplace.

Although homes are less densely populated than offices, government guidance still advises to review health and safety risks involving ventilation in the home. Air conditioning units in houses tend to be inadequate in terms of preventing the disease, as they only recirculate air instead of bringing fresh air into the room, which unfortunately compromises the likelihood of those in the room becoming infected. These units are identifiable, as they usually appear as a slender white box mounted on walls or ceilings, known as a split air conditioner.

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