Is Your Industrial Ventilation System Effective?

phoebeej
March 16, 2023

Industrial worker in facility with effective industrial ventilation systems — Industrial ventilation systems are critical for worker health and safety.

Your industrial ventilation system is a crucial part of maintaining a successful work environment. Proper ventilation is a basic requirement of any workplace, but is especially important for industrial facilities where there may be a high volume of airborne particulates and presence of potentially harmful or toxic contaminants in the air. As such, facilities need to ensure their systems are working properly and effectively to keep their workplace safe, healthy, and productive. However, it can be difficult to know when ventilation systems are working ineffectively or inefficiently. In this article, you’ll learn what to look for and why it’s necessary to make sure your industrial ventilation system is up to the task of keeping the air in your workplace healthy.

If you need system design or ventilation equipment for your workplace, contact our team now to request a quote.

Industrial Ventilation Systems Improve Indoor Air Quality

An industrial ventilation system is necessary for maintaining good quality air indoors. Indoor air quality (IAQ) is a major concern for any workplace, as it can affect workers in many different ways. If the indoor air quality in your work environment is poor, then it’s likely filled with contaminants. Common contaminants can include:

Dust
Mold
Pathogens
Chemical fumes

Additionally, it may also mean that temperatures and humidity levels inside your building aren’t within recommended ranges, further exacerbating the issue.

The problem with this is that continued exposure can cause many issues for your workforce. For one, it can reduce overall productivity. There are many studies that link poor air quality to lower productivity in the workplace. Additionally, there may be short- and long-term health consequences of working in facilities with poor indoor air quality.

Industrial ventilation systems help improve indoor air quality by removing contaminants and bringing in fresh air from the outside. They also help with air movement inside. All these processes reduce contaminants and increase comfort to provide you with a successful work environment.

Keep in mind that bad indoor air quality is a serious issue in workplaces across the country. In fact, an estimated 20% of employees in the U.S. say they don’t trust their building’s ventilation systems, with 29% expressing concerns about catching illnesses like COVID because of poor building ventilation. Therefore, it’s essential to keep your eyes open for issues with poor ventilation in your building.

Signs Your Industrial Ventilation Systems Aren’t Working Effectively

Knowing that industrial ventilation systems are critical for indoor air quality is one thing. However, how do you know if your facility’s systems are working properly to provide good air quality indoors? There may be several signs that your ventilation systems aren’t being as effective as they need to be for good indoor air quality.

One sign is that the people in your building experience symptoms commonly linked to poor IAQ. Since poor air quality can negatively impact worker health, many people will actually start to experience symptoms when exposed to poor IAQ, such as:

Dry or burning nose, eyes, or throat
Sneezing
Runny nose
Stuffy nose
Fatigue
Headaches
Dizziness
Nausea
Forgetfulness
Irritability

All these may indicate issues with bad air quality indoors. If many workers experience these symptoms over a long period of time, it may not simply be a cold or allergies, you may have an issue with ventilation.

Another thing to look for is a significant amount of dust buildup in your facility. Industrial exhaust systems are designed to remove airborne contaminants from the building by sending them outside. While you can’t see many of these contaminants, like germs and mold spores, dust is often visible as it settles on surfaces. Therefore, if you have an abnormal amount of dust in the building, it may be an issue with your industrial ventilation system.

Finally, another indicator that your ventilation systems aren’t working as effectively as they should is if the inside of your facility is uncomfortable because the air feels stale, hot, dry, or humid. This often means there’s not enough ventilation or air flow in your facility.

Why Your Industrial Ventilation System May Not Be Working Properly

Now you know what to look for to identify problems with your industrial ventilation systems, you may be wondering why your system isn’t working effectively. There are a number of reasons that ventilation systems aren’t working well enough to provide good indoor air quality, including poor design, equipment malfunctions, or changes in ventilation demand for your facility. Any one of these can lead to issues that affect your workers and work environment.

Poor Design

One unfortunately common problem with many industrial ventilation systems is poor design. Many facilities have ventilation systems that simply weren’t designed to optimize indoor air quality based on the facility layout, size, or operations. Poor system design means the system will seem to be functioning normally, but you may still experience issues with IAQ. There may be any number of problems with an industrial ventilation system’s design. For instance, you might be struggling to remove contaminants because air intakes are placed too closely to industrial exhaust systems, essentially creating a constant recirculation of contaminated air. In these cases, you may need recommissioning to make the system better suited to your work environment.

Malfunctions

Another potential issue that may affect the efficacy of your industrial ventilation systems is equipment malfunctions. Even one malfunctioning or failed fan can significantly impact the whole system and its ability to provide proper ventilation. Aging equipment in particular is a concern, as it may have significant wear that makes it more prone to failure. Another potential issue is when the system works equipment too hard, which over time can increase the risk for failure. Typically you can fix this issue by repairing or replacing the malfunctioning equipment.

Changes in Ventilation Demands

Finally, it may be that your ventilation systems aren’t working very effectively because your needs have changed since the original system was designed. It may have worked well when originally installed, but today your facility may require more robust ventilation solutions for contaminants in the facility.