Posted By stephen d clarke Hi, You haven't mentioned what the complaints are about specifically. If people are getting sick which they attribute to the workplace that could be potentially very serious. But if the complaint is that it is just a bit stuffy in here then making the changes could probably upset somebody else who will complain its now work space etc can contribute to how people feel. Steve

Posted By Steph Hello In a former employment I did have one done on an open plan office in an old building. The reason was that 1 staff member had claimed for a number of years that their eczema-type condition was due to what she described as the poor quality air. This was a scenario I inherited as the new H&S person. There was a lot of 'stuff' in the background, including a bad relationship with colleagues and stress, so the testing was done as part of the elimination process. The sampling showed all clear. Before doing the air sampling we went through the processes of inspection, occi health, cleaning, tidying up, reducing the quantity of paper,debugging plants, removing aerosols, ventilation, etc, etc, and the staff member still claimed there was 'something in the air'. The person declined the offer of alternative accommodation and this was dealt with formally. All good fun, eh??

Posted By Jeff Manion This may be related to ventilation i.e. where air comes from, re-circulation and condition of plant. There could be a problem with the lack of fresh air and manytimes have plants that take in the CO2 and expel oxygen is good. There could also be an effect due to the finanical circumstances and the perceived "environment", redundancy looming. Have completed various investigation over the years and have found many problems that have been exacerbated due to the lack of maintenance, the working environment and the local stressors. Good luck with your investigations. We carry an air quality meter, we do self calibrate it, do not consider the cost to be great - you might like to consider hiring a piece of kit. JM