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Priority factors influencing sick building syndrome symptoms in offices.

Author(s) : BAIZHAN L., RUNMING Y., Keith T. Bright, CHINA P. R. , The university of reading

Summary

The symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) are common in the population as a whole: headaches, lethargy
and irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and skin. SBS reduces productivity, increases sickness absence and takes up
valuable time, both in making and dealing with those complaints. Consequently, studies of SBS among office
workers have usually attributed these symptoms to problems with indoor climate factors, especially poor indoor air
quality. However, studies of SBS have frequently failed to show that specific indoor air pollutants alone cause the
symptoms reported by workers. SBS is a multi-factorial problem.
In this paper, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) model introduced by Saaty (1972) has been developed with a
self-adjustment function and has been used to assess the effects of personal, occupational and environmental
factors on Sick Building Syndrome in offices. An empirical model about the multi-factorial symptoms of SBS in
offices has been established by using AHP. Priority factors studies show that indoor air quality and pollution are
the most important environmental factors influencing SBS in the offices. Compared with other personal and
occupational factors, video display terminal (VDT) use is the most significant correlate ofsymptoms of SBS.

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Pages: p 271-276

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Details

  • Original title: Priority factors influencing sick building syndrome symptoms in offices.
  • Record ID : 30033770
  • Languages: English
  • Subject: Environment
  • Source: International Symposium on Air Conditioning in High Rise Buildings - 1997
  • Publication date: 1997/09
  • Document available for consultation in the library of the IIR headquarters only.

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