Indoor environmental quality in multi storey office buildings and its implication on the health and safety of workers. Evaluation of Lagos State Government Administrative buildings in Nigeria

摘要

The problems associated with indoor environment quality (IEQ) and the possible subsequent effects thereof on workers, as experienced by the employees of Lagos state government in multi storey office buildings in Lagos, Nigeria, were investigated and are discussed. To find a possible association between these poor physical environmental indoor conditions and the potential adverse affects on the health and motivation of workers, a cross sectional survey was conducted to assess the physical, biological and chemical quality of indoor environmental quality (Refer to as IEQ - Indoor Environmental Quality). The data were collected between Feb and April 2012. A total of 1000 Questionnaires were randomly distributed among employees working in the twelve multi storey buildings within the Secretariat out of a total of sixteen. Each building consists of six floors each and with an average of sixty offices in each block. Occupants in each office vary between one and maximum of six. Eight hundred and ninety seven (897) responded to the questionnaires. The questions addressed how poor air quality, insufficient awareness on effects of poor IEQ i.e. training on health and safety as regards to IEQ, lack of access to daylight, unpleasant acoustic conditions, and control over lighting and thermal comfort leads to dissatisfaction with the IEQ of the buildings. Observations from the data led to the view that the satisfactory level of IEQ awareness is low among the occupants. Organisational structure needs to be formed that will enlighten occupants about factors that contribute to poor indoor air quality (IAQ).