Humidity in the office - and why it is so important Poor air in the office and its consequences

Insufficient humidity in the workplace has several unpleasant consequences for everyone involved:

• Poor office air causes employees to become tired more quickly. The rule is: the more demanding the work, the better the air quality should be. Fatigue leads to mistakes at work, a generally slower working pace and, if poor office air persists over a long period, irritability.
• In poorly ventilated rooms, the likelihood of employees becoming ill increases. Normally, ventilation systems are in place to remove “stale” air – but they cannot catch every single bacterium. So if the humidity in the office is not right, the risk of illness increases.
• Last but not least, poorly climate-controlled, overly dry rooms are also more susceptible to damage to the building fabric itself. If there is a lack of humidity in the workplace, renovation work on the property will probably be necessary in the long term – and that can become really expensive.

Apart from damage to the property, however, it is above all employees’ performance and health that suffer from poor office air – but what exactly makes for a good indoor climate?

For most people in our latitudes, the ideal humidity level lies somewhere between 40 and 60 %. In summer, this can often be achieved simply by opening the windows – but especially in winter, the situation is different. The reason is that cold air cannot retain moisture as well as warm air. In addition, radiators are in use then, which draw even more moisture out of the air. As a result, humidity drops significantly, especially in autumn and winter, and then falls below the critical level.

It is not unlikely for the air in the office to become “overheated” – even if you heat sparingly. In a modern office, after all, there are also numerous devices such as notebooks and PCs that generate a lot of waste heat – not to mention the employees themselves, who are also like little heaters and warm up the air. In summer, incidentally, the same problems can arise, but then caused by air conditioning systems, which also remove moisture from the air.

If the office lacks the necessary humidity, your employees may face many different problems:

• As already mentioned, the risk of illness increases. One reason for this is that dry indoor air dries out the mucous membranes. This in turn weakens the immune system, meaning that bacteria and viruses that are normally harmless can suddenly cause illness after all. This is, of course, particularly worrying during typical “sick seasons”, when half the workforce in the office ends up infecting one another.
• For sensitive people, insufficient humidity in the office also causes the skin and eyes to dry out. In terms of the skin, this shows up as itching, which can quickly become unbearable. If the work in your office mainly involves screen-based tasks, which can be quite strenuous for the eyes, poor air in the office can also lead to watery, burning eyes, which likewise affects performance and mood.
• The mucous membrane issues mentioned above can also affect the vocal cords. It is then quite possible that an employee may simply lose their voice or that it sounds somewhat hoarse. This is especially bad news for people who need to delegate a lot and therefore rely on a strong, clearly audible voice – or for employees who spend a lot of time on the phone with important customers.
• In addition to physical strain, poor humidity in the office can also have psychological effects: for people who are already under stress, an inadequate indoor climate could be the final straw. A place where you generally feel uncomfortable does not exactly support good mental well-being – so in the end, poor concentration and a general dislike of the job may also develop.

As you can already see: if there is not enough humidity in the office, the consequences can be dramatic. For this reason, we will now look at some measures you can take to protect your employees.

Before you take action without even knowing whether there is actually a problem, you should check the current situation – and one way to do that is with a thermo-hygrometer. These small, inexpensive devices show you the temperature and the humidity as well. Slightly higher-quality devices also record the data over a longer period, allowing you to draw conclusions over the long term.

Unfortunately, identifying the problem is not enough: according to a new study by the University of South California, for example, women prefer to work at slightly higher temperatures, while men prefer cooler air. Of course, you cannot solve this problem with devices, so you simply need to find a compromise with your employees.

PLANTS IN THE OFFICE AS HUMIDIFIERS

A widely appreciated remedy for dry air is simply to use green plants as humidifiers in the office. Here, you should focus in particular on plants in the office with especially large leaves. You should not expect miracles from them, but measuring equipment will show that there is a slight difference in humidity in the office when you place plants there.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT FURNITURE

High-quality office furniture can also have a direct impact on humidity: office chair, desk & co. should ideally be made from high-quality materials. Low-cost models often use various plasticisers instead of high-quality rubber, as well as heavy metals or formaldehyde. Over a long period, these materials escape from the furniture and silently accumulate in the air. The simple solution to this problem is to invest straight away in furniture that avoids harmful substances.

THE SIMPLE SOLUTION: HUMIDIFIERS IN THE OFFICE

Sometimes all the tips in the world won’t help because the external conditions simply don’t allow the situation to improve. In that case, humidifiers are the right choice: these fairly compact devices contain water, which the humidifier then releases into the surrounding air over a long period of time. After a short while, the office reaches an optimal humidity level. High-quality models also filter pathogens out of the air at the same time.

Before buying a device blindly, you should make sure the humidifier is suitable for your office. You can find this information in the technical data, usually in relation to room volume (expressed in cubic metres). Some devices can only handle 300 cubic metres, while others reach four-digit figures. Buy the one that suits your office.

There are also models whose water tank has to be refilled manually, as well as automatically refillable humidifiers. The latter are of course more convenient, as they simply draw their own water via a suitable connection – but these models also cost more.

As you can see, there is no substitute for the right humidity level in the office: it reduces illness, helps prevent tiredness, lowers mental stress, protects the mucous membranes and enables employees to perform at their maximum productivity without stress. Even small tricks such as adding a few plants can help improve the indoor climate sustainably for all employees. If that’s not enough, professional humidifiers and the right furniture will have to solve the problem – and this investment is guaranteed to pay off in the long term.