Ventilation
Greater focus on ventilation hygiene now vital Building managers will have to pay close attention to the cleanliness of their ventilation systems in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown, according to the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) As buildings start to re-open, the importance Owners should look at how frequently of complying with industry standards, keeping they were having systems cleaned comprehensive records and using competent before the lockdown and compare companies to carry out ventilation hygiene that with their expected turnover.” work will take on even greater significance due Nicholls said it was vital that any changes to the problems created by the coronavirus, a were supported by accurate records to satisfy group of experts told a recent BESA webinar. fire risk assessors and insurance companies. As part of efforts to cut costs in the wake of the disruption, some businesses may look Investigations to reduce the frequency of cleaning, but this Nicholls continues: “In many fire investigations, should only be done in a planned way, they said. there is a complete lack of adequate Gary Nicholls, managing director of ductwork post-clean documentation to prove if the and legionella risk specialists Swiftclean, said system had been cleaned properly.” the hospitality sector had been hit particularly BESA publishes the ventilation hygiene hard, but cutting back on ventilation industry guide to good practice TR19 – and hygiene could increase the recently added a specification aimed risk of fires being spread specifically at kitchen extract World by poorly maintained cleaning. ‘TR19 Grease’ includes Health kitchen grease a schedule explaining the link Organis extract systems. between the frequencies He said: “We need of cleaning required officials ation to keep grease and the average daily s a i d ‘eviden build up below build-up of deposits in ce was emergi 200 microns to the extract system to n g 19 can ’ that Cov minimise risk. help manage fire risks.
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The chair of BESA’s Ventilation Hygiene group told the webinar that building managers should also take similar care of their supply air ventilation systems as occupancy levels start to rise again. George Friend said there was no direct link established between the spread of the coronavirus and the cleanliness of ventilation, but that should not mean systems are not cleaned. Current guidance from the industry and healthcare experts is to provide maximum levels of outside air and avoid recirculation to protect against the virus. He said: “There have been ventilation hygiene standards in place for many years; so we are not asking people to do anything new. However, it is more important than ever if systems are operating on full fresh air that ductwork is properly clean. Building managers should also consider whether their current ventilation strategy is still fit for purpose. Many are changing layouts and having new partitions installed to maintain social distancing, which will have an impact on airflows around the occupied spaces.” E
Issue 27.4 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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