As the return to workplaces and offices continues apace following the Government’s recent lifting of Covid-19-related public health restrictions, Camfil’s Paul Flanagan has been busier than usual.

As managing director of the air filtration company’s Irish branch, Flanagan has been speaking to people all over the country about how important clean air is in maintaining workplace health and safety standards. Until now, he has mostly been dealing with teachers amid the reopening of schools.

While he is quick to say that teachers are under incredible pressure to ensure children are receiving adequate protection, he has found that the information they have been reliant upon is often inaccurate. The Government’s room air-cleaner guidance for schools document contains some good advice around air filtration, Flanagan said.

The same day Flanagan spoke to SiliconRepublic.com, the Government published its ‘Transitional Protocol’ document aimed at people who were returning to the workplace.

The document contains general advice on reducing the spread of disease in workplaces by adhering to best practices around hand washing, respiratory hygiene, physical distancing and ventilation. It is not a hugely detailed document, and it was published a full 10 days after the workplace reopening announcement was made. On the subject of ventilation, the document recommends improving air quality in workplaces “through natural means (e.g., opening a window) or by mechanical means e.g. HVAC systems.”

“The overall objective should be to increase the ventilation in the workspace wherever possible thereby improving the existing ventilation without impacting on the workers’/occupants’ comfort,” the protocol recommends.

It included a link to the Health and Safety Authority’s (HSA) website for more information on assessing ventilation in the workplace.

The HSA’s advice echoes that already provided to teachers around the reopening of schools. It, too, states that the “most suitable” air cleaning and filtration units are HEPA filters.

HEPA filters, or high efficiency particulate air filters, can remove at least 99.97pc of dust, pollen, mould, bacteria, and any airborne particles with a size of 0.3 microns. (Covid-19 particles are around 0.1 to 0.5 microns in size.) They can’t remove Covid-19 from the air fully, but if used correctly they can reduce risks and improve air quality.

Air cleaning units with HEPA filters are usually stand-alone and can be installed in any space similar to a local air conditioning device. However, the HSA warns that the units lose their efficacy if they haven’t been appropriately sized for the room they are supposed to be cleaning. Often, two smaller units in different locations in a room can be more effective than one larger unit.

How a HEPA filter works to clean air.

It’s also advised that HEPA filters should be introduced into workplaces only as “part of an overall assessment of the existing ventilation systems in place.” They can be complicated to use and understand, and require proper training to operate. A lot of people Flanagan has met with around the country don’t seem to be using them properly at all.

As Camfil’s MD, he has more than 30 years’ experience in the HVAC industry. He believes the Government should engage more with the private sector on the issue of ventilation in workplaces to prevent companies with dodgy salespeople fobbing people off with devices that aren’t HEPA filters at all. Units with HEPA filters require special certification.

Flanagan has seen that many companies are not able to provide the appropriate documentation to back up their claims, leading to confusion around what is and what isn’t a HEPA filter.

“A lot of the guidance out there is talking about good HEPA filters or bad HEPA filters. There’s no such thing,” Flanagan said, adding that he has seen the term bandied around “flippantly” by people who don’t have any hands-on expertise in the HVAC industry. (His term for them is ‘epistemic trespassers’.)

However, some of the more specialised industries “are very up to speed on what the requirements of a certified and tested HEPA filter is for the specific industry they are in.” These include people working in pharmaceutical and medical device companies, which already have HVAC systems in-built. Ordinary offices don’t tend to have purpose-built HVAC systems as they are even more expensive than HEPA filters.

The bad news is it’s “practically impossible” to retrofit buildings with HVAC systems. The stand-alone air cleaners with HEPA filters are the next best thing – but only if used correctly. Flanagan reckons that, based on his recent visits to offices based near Dublin’s IFSC, businesses with big budgets will “take the time” to understand how HEPA filters work because they “have the resources and they have facilities managers on these sites to ask the questions.”

According to Flanagan, many of the mistakes made around air filtration are down to budgetary and time constraints. He doesn’t think it’s due to a lack of information.

In the case of schools, he said he has seen many principals not adhering to the advice in the document published by The Department of Health. “And the same will probably happen in businesses now.”

Most “just don’t have the money and a lot of them end up buying cheap units that will do absolutely no good for them whatsoever.”

“I don’t think we’ll get a big surge in cases due to bad filters being used, but I think we would see a big reduction in cases,” he said.

Flanagan acknowledged that it can be difficult for the non-experts to gauge the efficacy of HEPA filters versus ordinary air purifiers that can be picked up cheaply in most electrical goods shops. But he has seen that the proper management of ventilation in workplaces can make a huge difference in workers’ health.

Camfil worked with The Department of Agriculture when the meat plants shut around the beginning of the pandemic. Flanagan said they managed to install a system in one of the plants and it has had “zero cases since.”

“So, I just feel that it’s very important for people returning from working from home now going back to the office, that if they do invest in air cleaners, that they understand the correct standards to follow and that they don’t go down the road of just looking at the cheap products,” he concluded.

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