Various physical, chemical and biological hazards that affect human health arise in the built environment, there is need for more awareness by both the designers and building occupants so that necessary preventive measures will be incorporated in the design of new build and proper remedies will be applied in the case of dealing with existing environments. Consequently, along with case studies of sick building syndrome and comparative evaluation of construction health and safety legislatives in Australia and the United Kingdom, this report analysed likely health and safety impacts of some of the hazards in the built environment (controlled or controllable by building regulations) and comparatively evaluates the nature, efficiency and effectiveness of mitigations placed on each of the likely hazards in the United Kingdom and Australia. Various design and construction techniques through which some of the hazards can be mitigated as well as the strategies which building occupants can adopt in order to prevent or in worst case scenario, minimize the effects of such hazards are also evaluated.
INTRODUCTION
One of the basic requirements of buildings is the provision of healthy and comfortable living environment for human activities. Reports has shown that larger percentage of our time is spent indoors whether in form of residence, offices, shopping malls or any other types of building; therefore, buildings must provide adequate room space, floor area, lighting, shelter, comfortable indoor climate and other facilities required for the purpose it is built and as well designed, constructed and managed in such a way as to prevent risks to health of the occupants (Curwell et al, 1990).
Thousands of diseases, deaths and ultimate damage to the wider environment has recently been associated with building health and safety hazards due to poor design and construction techniques, improper ventilation system as well as wrong materials and products selection. Such building materials and health hazards include harzadous materials of which asbestos is an example; radon, indoor air pollution, contaminants and contaminated lands, heavy metals, Volatile Organic Compounds(VOCs) and Nitrates, slips, falls and trips, pest and pesticides, fire and explosions and so on (Raw et al 2001).
Recently gaining more and more research interests among the building health related problems is the 'sick building syndrome' which is a medical condition whereby building occupants suffer from various symptoms of sickness such as stuffy, itchy or running nose, dry throat and skin, chest tightness, undue lethargy, headache, watering or itchy eyes and so on within the buildings, with such conditions disappearing and relieved when they are away from such buildings. Although they have not been authoritatively established, some identified causes of such problem include but not limited to indoor surface pollution, inadequate air exchange, poor lighting, noise, low relative humidity and material emission (WHO, 1995).
Building codes has a long established antiquity protecting health and safety in history of man, dated back to the 'codes of Hummurabi' during the Babylonian era(Prince, 1904). Nevertheless, all over the world today, building regulations, codes, acts and standards of which that of the United Kingdom and Australia are not left out have become essential tools setting out mitigation standards which every building design and construction must meet in terms of design, construction and material use in order to improve the quality of environment, health and safety, comfort and productivity of the occupants and the wider environmental protection against global warming and climate change.
The current worldwide attention to building health issues can be credited to the 'Baubiologie', the German institute of building biology established as an independent and non-governmental body in Germany in 1983 with the sole aim of promoting a healthy, ecologically and socially responsible living environment, of which their '25 principles of building biology' is at the fore-front of providing various guidelines for healthy built environment and living conditions.
This report is structured around individual source of hazard in the built environment in forms of contaminants, inadequate ventilation and indoor air quality, hazardous building materials and wider environmental damage. A comparative analysis of the United Kingdom and Australian Health and Safety Legislative as well as an overview of a case study of sick building syndrome is presented in the report. Meanwhile, the general approach taken in the report involves description of each of the phenomenon, evaluation of its health effects, comparative evaluation of mitigation placed on each of the hazards in the two countries, description of design and construction techniques for mitigating the hazard and exposition on the strategies with which the residual risks of the hazards can be managed by the building occupants.
CONTAMINANTS
Contaminants are man-made and naturally occurring physical, chemical, biological or radiological substances (normally absent in the environment) which, in sufficient concentration can adversely affect human health through air, soil, water and food. The health effects of contaminants depend on the type and nature of the contaminant as well as the level of exposure (Wong, 2012). Due to its health effects, the UK and Australian governments strategise various ways of handling different contaminants in the built environment; building regulations is one of these strategies.
There are thousands of contaminants that could be found in the environment, radon, contaminated land, heavy metals, their effects and mitigations are described in this report
Radon
Radon is a natural, odourless and colourless radioactive gas formed from the radioactive decay of radium and uranium, usually occur in some buildings due to outside air, water supply, building materials and in-flow into the building from the ground under the building through ground water movement, cracks in the ground, service entry points and exacerbated and built up by poor indoor ventilation (Curwell et al, 1990). Inhaling radioactive decay products formed through decay of radon gas will form some deposits in the lung, this will irradiate the lung tissue with alpha particles and may ultimately result in lung cancer (Raw et al, 2001).
In the United Kingdom where some areas such as Devon, Cornwall and some parts of Derbyshire are known to have up to 1000bqm-3 and with a general average of 20bqm-3 (Raw et al, 2001), the building regulation through its empowerment of the Building Research Establishment(BRE) Good Building Guides' 25 Building and Radon, 1996 provides necessary guides on protective measures for new dwellings against radon gas and the Ionising Radiation Regulation(1999) of the Health and safety Commision(HSC) for preventing exposure in workplaces just as the Radiation Protection and Control(Ionising radiation) Regulation, 2000 and 2002 is being used in Australia to prevent exposure to radiation in workplaces since radiation level is generally low in Australian homes, about 11 bqm-3 and no area with more than 200bqm-3(Kaiser, 2009). As this is not an issue, Australian building code has no formal provision for mitigating radon in buildings, although its requirements for weatherproofing, floor and wall designs are similar to the provisions made by the UK approved documents C to prevent radon in buildings.
C:\Users\ARC SAHEED AJAYI\Desktop\radon-map.jpgC:\Users\ARC SAHEED AJAYI\Desktop\AUS\RadonSurveyMapSmall2.jpg
Figure 2:
Radon map of the United Kingdom.
Figure 1:
Radon map of Australia.
The design and construction techniques recommended for radon prone area include concrete flooring with radon barrier across building footprint with ventilated concrete flooring and sub-floor void that could allow later introduction of radon extraction for high risk area and concrete flooring with only radon barrier for low risk area. Although it has no statutory force, Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) has provisions and guidelines similar to the United Kingdom BRE Guides to reduce radon in existing buildings; such measures include soil suction, sealing cracks and openings, house pressurization, Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) and elimination of radon in water.
Contaminated Land
Contaminated land is a land by virtue of sufficient quantity or concentration it contained is likely to cause harm to man, environment or materials use in construction (Curwell et al, 1990). A land can be contaminated due to industrial processes such as metal manufacturing, gas works or dockyard, landfill and agricultural land uses or as a result of naturally occurring contaminants (Raw et al, 2001). Direct ingestion of contaminated soil or dirt, consumption of vegetable grown on it, inhalation of gaseous or particle contaminants, skin contacts, odour as well as contamination of water supplies and ground water pose serious health problems due to contaminated land. Buildings on gas contaminated lands are vulnerable due to the tendency of the gas entering the interior through cracks and gaps in the floor and methane as a contaminant may result in fire or explosion if allowed to accumulate to its hazardous concentration.
Despite the fact that the former Department of Environment(DoE) has an account of contaminated lands in the United Kingdom, the building regulation under the approved document C requires a through site investigation and preliminary risk assessment for all sites; where the site is found to contain contaminants of any kind, remediation to reduce its mass, concentration, mobility, flux and toxicity or its containment by encapsulating the contaminated material has to be taken. Whether or not a building site is contaminated, the building regulation through its empowerment of UK Environmental Protection Act, 1990 supported by Contaminated Land (England) Regulation, 2000 requires the use of cover system by providing sub-soil drainage to all water logged site, and ensuring that all floors, walls and roofs of every building are designed and constructed to prevent moisture, precipitation, interstitial and surface condensation as well as water spillage from sanitary fixing these will reduce exposure, break the linkage between the contaminants and receptor, improve geotechnical properties and sustain vegetations.
However in Australia, the building codes has no provision for contaminated land; rather, the Environmental Protection Authority(EPA) through the use of Environmental Protection Act, 1993 and National Environment Protection(Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure(NEPM) 1999 which has no statutory force provides guidelines for mitigating health hazards that may be due to contaminated land in a similar way to that of the United Kingdom. Remediation activities are expected to follow the guidelines as the EPA advises the Planning Authority who grants or denies building approval.
Heavy metals
Heavy metals are the members of ill-defined subset of some chemical substance that portray properties of metals, usually described based on various properties ranging from density, atomic weight , atomic and chemical properties to their toxicity. Commonly known heavy metals in buildings are Arsenic, Chromium and Cadmium which are either on their own, attach to air particles(particulates), as contaminants in air and water or as constituents of other materials such as paints, preservatives and so on (Järup, 2003).
Serious toxic effects that can be caused by heavy metals include dermatitis, ulceration and carcinogen due to exposure to Chromium, lungs, bladder and skin cancer, reproductive and neurological problems associated with exposure to Arsenic, kidney and bone defects as a result of exposure to Cadmium (Curwell et al, 1990).
Unlike in Australia where no legal attention has been put forward to mitigate health effects of heavy metals, the UK building regulation approved document C requires the need for prevention of occupants health from risk due to contaminants of any kind by avoiding the use of materials that can be a source of contamination, and where it has been used, to reduce the residual risk; the part F of the building regulation also requires the use of extracts to exclude air pollution from indoor environments.
AIR QUALITY AND INDOOR ENVIRONMENT
A healthy indoor environment is not only the one with absence of contaminants; it involves all aspects of the indoor environment such as indoor air quality, hygroscopic condition, acoustic condition and so on. Since much of our time is spent indoors, a designer must properly address all factors that can adversely affect the health of the occupants at the conception stage of design. Ventilation and indoor air quality, hygroscopic condition, concepts of 'air tightness', moulds, fungi and allergens as well as their health effects and mitigation placed in Australia and the United kingdom are evaluated in this report.
Ventilation and air quality
Ventilation and adequate indoor air quality are necessary parameters for achieving that condition of mind which expresses satisfaction with its environment in order to achieve a state of complete mental, physical and social well-being within the built environment. Meanwhile, according to Curwell et al, (1990), there is indoor air quality if contaminants are eliminated and there is adequate air exchange rate through which stale air is replaced by fresh and uncontaminated air from outside the space. Discomfort due to inadequate ventilation has been traced to be similar to the symptoms of sick building syndrome; hence, it results in lost productivity and absenteeism.
Hygrothermal condition and moulds.
Hygrothermal condition of a building deals with the movement of heat and moisture through the building. This is usually determined by indoor temperature, humidity and draught. Relative Humidity above 70% encourages mould growth, while at below 30%, it is associated with the drying of the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract. Cold environmental conditions are associated with measured death due to heart attack, respiratory illness and stroke (Raw et al, 2001: 6-8). Occupants of mouldy homes may experience respiratory symptoms, respiratory infections, allergic rhinitis and asthma (WHO, 2009). Indoor temperature below 12oC poses risk of cardiovascular and respiratory health; depending on activity level, indoor temperature between 16oC and 20oC as well as air movement of below 0.2m/s usually produce no discomfort (Raw et al, 2001: 6-8). Hence, health may be affected by inadequate ventilation, heating/cooling and moisture generation within the building.
Fungi and Allergens
Inadequate ventilation and air flow accounts for fungi growth usually on wall covering, building materials, carpets, shoes, finishing and masonry in some buildings due to high relative humidity of the indoor environment which directly influence the water activity of a substrate. Apart from damage to building materials, various health challenges such as Allergies Ι in form of asthma or hay fever and Allergies ΙΙ in form of chills, fever, breathless and malaise have been traced to inhalation of fungi (Raw et al, 2001).
Air tightness
The desire to save energy consumption in buildings has recently led to the concept of air tightness which helps to retain warm indoor environmental condition, prevent unpleasant draught, increase energy efficiency, exclude unnecessary outdoor environmental condition and give greater thermal comfort. While there is no any regulatory requirement for air tightness in Australian buildings, the UK building regulation through approved document L1 now requires air tightness for all dwellings in order to avoid air leakage and enhance thermal performance of buildings.
However, air tightness is not without its health challenges; when there is insufficient air exchange in air-tight buildings, it would lead to high level of CO2 which usually results in higher levels of home dust, other biological air borne particles and release of VOC from indoor paints, furniture and cleaning agents; all these may lead to respiratory problems and headache (Kyriakide, 2008).
Indoor air quality and mitigation strategies in Australia and the United Kingdom.
In the United Kingdom, the building regulation requires all buildings to have ventilation system capable of preventing accumulation of moisture which lead to mould growth and pollutant originating from within the building which could cause health hazards to people, supply of outdoor air to disperse stale air through mechanical or natural means is also required of all buildings by the part F of the building regulation. Likewise in Australia, the building code requires provision of operable windows of not less 5% of the floor area or mechanical ventilation with recommendation of 15l/p/s for conference room and 10l/p/s for other buildings as differ from that of UK which ranges from 6l/p/s for normal rooms to 60l/p/s for kitchens. Irrespective of the differences in the requirements, both the UK building regulation and Australian building codes provides adequate regulation for ensuring indoor air quality and ventilation.
BUILDING MATERIALS AND HEALTH
Risk to human health can occur as a result of exposure to dust, fumes, gases, vapours, fibres and toxic substances during the production of some building materials, maintenance and occupancy of buildings. Some of these common harmful materials include heavy metals (earlier described), asbestos, insecticides, fungicides, solvents and earthen materials
(UN-HABITAT, 1997). Health effects of asbestos and 'nano-materials and their mitigations in Australia and the United kingdom is evaluated in this document.
Asbestos
Asbestos is a fibrous silicate mineral in form of chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, fibrous tremolite, anthophlite or fibrous silicate naturally occurring in rocks. Its useful properties such as resistance to chemical attack, combustivity and low thermal conductivity made it to be recognised and exploited as a valuable building materials used in form of insulation, shingles, flooring, ceiling and sidings and in some other products usually employed to prevent heat transfer in cooking. Although research has shown that diseases from exposure to asbestos fibres take more than 15years to occur, inhaling fibres released from asbestos materials have been found to cause serious health hazards in forms of lung cancer, mesothelioma (cancer of the chest and abdomen) and asbestosis, the scarring of the lung. However, the level of health risk is dependent of the extent of asbestos fibres inhaled (Curwell et al, 1990).
http://www.metrorms.co.uk/images/asbestos_house.jpg
Figure 3: Use of Asbestos in buildings
Source: Metro risk management limited
In both the United Kingdom and Australia, there is a general ban on mining, importation, manufacture, use and recycling of asbestos since 1999 and 2003 respectively through the Hazardous Material Act 2 of the Australian Building Code which necessitate the compliance with the Worksafe Australia Asbestos Code of Practice Guidance Note 1988 and Occupational Health and Safety(Asbestos) Regulation, 1992. In the United Kingdom, regulation pertaining to the management of asbestos is dated to1969 with several others to mitigate its health impacts, its prohibition in 1999 and the Control of Asbestos Act, 2006 with 2012 amendment which makes similar provision to the Guidance Note in Australia which required the need for risk assessment and approved plan of work to prevent or reduce exposure to asbestos fibre during removal, demolition of buildings with asbestos material, transportation and disposal. The provisions generally differ in that unlike in the United Kingdom where removal of asbestos is carried out only by certified removalists, home owners are permitted to remove the asbestos themselves in Australia if the area is not more than 10m2 and the work is not more than 1hour within 7days, and in that case only specialists are bound to abide by the guidance notes.
Meanwhile, since asbestos is confirmed not to pose any hazard if it is kept in place, occupants of buildings with asbestos materials have to prevent ways by which asbestos fibres can be released and thereby inhaled.
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is usually referred to as the method employed in the manufacture of nano-materials which are materials with one or more external dimension or internal structure on nano-scale (1nm=1Ã-10-9). Although exploration of nanotechnology for building materials and health care is a recent development, the use of nano-particles gold and silver for glass making has been in place since Roman times(EHSC).
The use of nano-materials in buildings has not only enhanced materials properties, it is also proved to be highly energy efficient. Examples of nano-materials in buildings include carbon nano-tubes with high mechanical durability, crack prevention and good thermal properties which make it suitable for use in cement, ceramics and solar cells, silver nano-particles with good biocidal activity that makes it suitable in paints, varnishes and coatings (Nanowerks, 2012). Although there has not been any well established health risk associated with nano-materials, there is speculation that exposure to nano-particles is likely to cause environmental pollution and health hazard due to the size of its particles that can make it easy to be respired deep into the lung or nasal cavity. Carbon nano-tubes has also been described to have a dimension similar to amphibole asbestos fibres that causes mesothelioma in exposed people, this is yet to be scientifically confirmed(EHSC)
Meanwhile, since it is a new material in its entirety, there has been no known legislation guiding its manufacture and use.
Possible exposure scenarios during the lifecycle of MNMs used in construction
Figure 4: Possible exposure scenarios during the lifecycle of manufactured nano-materials used in construction.
(Source: Nanowerk, 2010)
WIDER ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE
Human activities as exacerbated by industrial revolution accounts for the production of greenhouse gases such as CO2, water vapour, Nitrogen-oxide, Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), methane and so on which lead to green house effect and damage to ozone layers, this in turn causes global warming, rise in global temperature, natural disaster and damage to biodiversity.. Environmental effects of Carbon emission and the Chlorofluorocarbons and their mitigation are evaluated in this section.
Chlorofluorocarbons(CFC)
Chlorofluorocarbons(CFC) is a general name for a group of man-made gases usually employed in buildings and refrigeration as insulation materials due to its low toxicity, high stability, non-inflammability, cost effectiveness and good thermal performance. It has been known as a destroyer of the atmospheric ozone layer that shield the earth from incoming ultraviolent radiation, it is also found to be 20,000times more potent than CO2 as green house gases; though, it is not as commonly put into use as the sources of CO2.
Production and consumption of CFCs is not allowed in Australia in order to achieve compliance with the Ozone protection Act, 1989(Commonwealth Act) which is also applicable in the United Kingdom where the RIBA and CIBSE have discouraged their members from recommending materials with CFCs. The Australian CFC management strategy also advises on how to kick out CFC in Australian homes.
Carbon emission in buildings
Excessive energy use in form of fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning for heating, cooling, manufacture of building materials, cooking, lighting and so on are the main source of carbon emission in buildings. Carbon oxide have been found as the most common green house gas that damages the ozone layer, thereby resulting in global warming and climate change.
In order to reduce wider environmental pollution due to CO2 emission, the part L of the UK building regulation states that CO2 emission rate building for a building must be below a Target Emission Rate(TER) set to a notional building of the same size and shape; this provision gives legal requirement to comply with the codes for sustainable homes which ranks buildings based on their energy efficiency. However in Australia, there has been no nationwide code for ranking buildings based on energy performance, although 5-star standard has been incorporated into building approval system in the Victorian part of the country, this requires no individual dwelling to be less than 3-star just as the minimum code for a building to be approved in UK is code level 3 of 7.
Meanwhile, as Australian Government is working in partner with AusZEH to generate a common code similar to the United Kingdom codes for sustainable home, they have created a landmark legislation (emission law in July, 2012) worthy of emulation which imposes tax per amount of Carbon emission produced by each industrial polluter, this has made the polluters to be finding alternative energy source and reduce pollution.
LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK
Apart from the building regulation which spell out certain requirements in the design and construction, building health and safety legislation and Construction Design and Management are used to manage building practise and construction safety in the United Kingdom as National Code of practice for the construction industry and Occupation Health and Safety Legislation is used in Australia aside the Australian building codes; they are as evaluated below.
Construction Design and Management (CDM)
The United Kingdom Construction Design is aimed at ensuring that right people are employed for the right job and at the right time in order to manage on-site risk, reduce paperwork and encourage teamwork focussing on effective planning, management and communication as well as competency of people engaging in construction work. However in Australia, the National Code of Practice for Construction Industry which is set to serve the same purpose as the United Kingdom CDM only describes good practices in respect of workplaces relation, procurement and security of payment as well as health and safety, it does not comprehensively spell out the roles of each party as spelt out by the CDM of the United Kingdom.
Construction Health and Safety Legislation
It is expected of all employers and employee carrying out a construction works to comply with the provisions of the Construction Health and Safety Legislation in the United Kingdom. It requires construction workers to make adequate provisions for prevention of falls, accidents, building collapse, traffic control, prevention of fire risk, drowning, several guidelines is also provided in order to ensure health and safety of people on or nearby the construction site. In Australia, the Occupational Health and Safety Legislation(OHSL) is less comprehensive as it is not construction specific, although it also provides guidelines on prevention of various work related accidents which may be due to fall, falling objects, collapse, explosion, inadequate fresh air and lighting and so on.
The Australian OHSL has no national strategy for implementation as that of the United Kingdom; each state regulates and enforces it to their taste and the lack of user consultation before the enactment, amendment and in its implementation makes the legislation less effective compared with that of the United Kingdom where construction workers are involved in the amendment and enforcement of the Construction Health and Safety Legislation.
SICK BUILDING SYNDROME: A CASE STUDY OVERVIEW
A case study of Sick Building Syndrome(SBS) in open plan office in Sydney(Australia) explaining the concept of SBS, how it occurs and the ways it can be investigated follows this report(Appendix 1). The study was carried out to investigate effects of office environment on escalation of SBS, perception of the SBS by facility managers and the effect of effective management control on the perception of SBS using questionnaire as a research instrument. The study associated the perception of SBS with long stay in office; space and equipment use was also raised as a cause of SBS.
The case study also discovered that where there is effective space management, there would be less perception of SBS and perception of SBS will lead to more focus on space management thereby reducing the perception. Hence, it can be concluded from the analysis of the case study that apart from the standard of design, maintenance practice as well as space and facility management are greatly associated with the perception of the Sick Building Syndrome.
CONCLUSION
Despite the fact that the scope of this report is small, it has been able to identify a number of potential health hazards in the built environment; this points out to the enormity of the hazard resulting from building materials, design, construction and servicing style, management problems and so on. Incentive efforts need being continuously made on researching into likely hazard especially regarding new materials and building techniques, so that there would be adequate information, education and training for designers, contractors, materials manufacturers and potential building owners about what and how to prevent the hazards. Meanwhile, national and local governments have a crucial role to play in protecting health of their citizenry, the report shows that both the United Kingdom and Australian government have adequate legal provisions and guidelines to protect health of their citizens and prevent global disasters. However, there is need for a more central effort (as against each state implementing their own building legislative guidelines) and more users' participation in amendment and enforcement of the building and health legislation in Australia in order to achieve a higher level of compliance as that of the United Kingdom.
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APPENDIX 1
FM puzzle: sick building and Sydney's open-plan offices
Abstract
The study presents analytical findings of sick building situations in Sydney's open-plan offices. It aims to ascertain facilities managers' perceptions of sick building impacts on discrete aspects of workspace management, with a view to raising general awareness. A total of 100 open-plan offices in the Sydney CBD were studied, and collated data analysed using partial correlation. Significant associations were found between sick building syndrome and certain aspects. However, management control played moderating roles in some of the associations. It concludes that, with management control, sick building syndrome may be perceived as critical to only a limited workspace aspect. The implication is for sick building syndrome to be largely generalised as inconsequential to many aspects of work environment in Sydney, probably following the Hawthorne management ideology.
Article citation: Ilozor B.D, Treloar,G.J., Olomolaiye, P.O. & Okoroh, M.I., (2001),"FM puzzle: sick building and Sydney's open-plan offices", Emerald Article: Facilities, Vol. 19, Issue: 13, pp. 484 - 493.
Complete article is available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1454589&
(Accessed on: 16/12/2012 through University of Derby Athens)
