Ventilation for health

Covid raises particular worries about ventilation, and many childrens groups are still under instructions to both heat the space and keep external doors and windows wide open. The Health and Safety Executive has advice about how to assess how much ventilation is needed using CO2 monitors and we expect this to trickle through to community groups gradually. Many building operators are changing their manual ventilation controls as a result and instructing occupants in their use.

Comfort tip

Ventilation can cause uncomfortable draughts. The higher you can make the air intake, the less it will affect people in the space. This is one reason why you might have windows high up in your spaces, and a good reason to make sure sash and case windows can be opened from the top.

• Assessing the risk of poor ventilation – Ventilation in the workplace (hse.gov.uk)

• Using CO2 monitors – Ventilation in the workplace (hse.gov.uk)

• Infection resilient environments (raeng.org.uk)