Quality of indoor working environment from public health and architecture view

Abstract

Introduction Good working environment influences different dimensions of our health. The study will explore the problem of defined micro parameters of working environment and it was done as part of research “Super micro climate in living environment” in 2015. The main aim is to show the importance of designing the quality-working environment for health of employees and users of chosen medical center. Methods A cross-sectional epidemiological study was done in the medical center in Ljubljana. Our research was divided into three stages: (1) exploring the working environment through observation; (2) qualitative research (semi structured interviews) among employees and users; (3) quantitative research. For the observation part (1) we defined following elements: space organization, air quality, light, noise, thermal comfort, furniture, HVAC, labeling, wall finishing. For quantitative (3) and qualitative (2) research we prepared the questionnaire based on literature review: demographic data, purpose of the visit, self-opinion about the space, micro parameters of working environment: noise, lightening, space distribution, orientation in the space, temperature, air quality, furnishing. Results The results of observation part were: confusion of distribution of space, a lot of empty spaces, not enough furnishes. We did survey among 29 users and employees and we made 7 semi-structure interviews. The results of qualitative and quantitative research were: poor indoor air quality, noisy, non-logical distribution of spaces, bad labeling, good thermal comfort, not enough chairs, low natural lightening. Conclusion Based on the results of this study there is the need for interdisciplinary collaboration between public health experts, medical doctors, architects, mechanical and structural engineers. The guidelines for designing quality indoor working environment should be discussed from public health and architecture view.