Think the Air Outside Is Bad? Try Breathing Indoors

Most of us know outdoor air can often be hard to breathe, but did you know that indoor air—especially in workplaces—can be up to 100 times more polluted? That means your workplace could be full of invisible irritants that can cause headaches, fatigue, or even more serious respiratory issues. And with people spending around 90% of their time indoors, air quality matters now more than ever.

Poor indoor air quality isn’t just uncomfortable; it’s a productivity killer—impacting employee health, and even your bottom line.

Reports suggest that poor ventilation costs businesses up to $15 billion in lost productivity annually.

That’s why the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set clear air quality and ventilation recommendations to help employers create safer, healthier workspaces and avoid costly legal issues. This guide breaks down the OSHA indoor air quality recommendations and shows how Perry Weather can make staying compliant a breeze—reducing costs, minimizing downtime, and protecting your team’s well-being.

What Are The OSHA Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)?

Although OSHA doesn’t have specific indoor air quality standards, the General Duty Clause requires employers to protect workers from known hazards, including poor air quality, lightning, and heat stress. This clause mandates clean air in indoor environments, and not meeting it can mean serious fines and potential legal issues.

Key OSHA Indoor Air Quality Recommendations

The OSHA air health and safety recommendations focus on three areas — monitoring pollutants, ensuring proper ventilation, and maintaining safe temperature and humidity levels. Many of the key OSHA air quality statutes and smoke regulations are contained in Standard 29 CFR Part 1910. These include:

1. Identify and Monitor Pollutants: OSHA recommends that workplaces track common pollutants like carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that originate from building materials, equipment, or daily operations. 

• 29 CFR 1910.1000: This statute sets permissible exposure limits (PELs) for toxic particulates and pollutants that cap the amount workers can be exposed to during an 8-hour workday. Here are the permissible exposure limits for a few pollutants:
  • Nickel: 1.0 mg/m³
  • Manganese: 5.0 mg/m³
  • Lead: 0.05 mg/m³

2. Monitor Airborne Particulates: Factories and warehouses often face air quality contaminants from chemical fumes, dust, and particles created by industrial processes. These environments usually require specialized air filtration and regular monitoring. Without consistent tracking and testing, workers are at risk for long-term respiratory health issues from air pollution.
   
   
3. Maintain Humidity and Temperature: OSHA recommends managing indoor temperature and humidity to prevent mold and other biological hazards. Mold thrives in damp, unventilated spaces and can lead to serious respiratory issues if not properly controlled.
   
   
4. Best Practices in Confined Spaces: The 29 CFR 1910.146 statute sets air quality requirements for confined spaces – small, enclosed areas that can trap harmful gasses or limit oxygen flow. This statute does not apply to agriculture, construction, or shipyard employment.
   
   
5. Ensure Proper Ventilation: Many offices struggle with inadequate HVAC systems that may lead to discomfort, fatigue, or allergies. Ventilation is crucial for circulating clean air and reducing pollutant levels. OSHA advises regularly maintaining HVAC systems to prevent contamination buildup, especially in workplaces generating dust or fumes.
   
   

Staying Ahead of Respiratory Hazards in Construction

Every workplace has unique air quality challenges. At construction sites and other high-risk environments like chemical plants and laboratories, workers face respiratory hazards like lead and silica dust, gases, and fumes.

Some hazards, like carbon monoxide, can be deadly in minutes, while others, like asbestos, might lead to lung cancer decades later. Sick building syndrome, a condition where occupants experience health and comfort-related effects due to poor air quality, is known to affect worker productivity and even impair cognitive function.

So, what can employers do to tackle these risks? OSHA requires a mix of preventive measures:

• Engineering Controls: Using ventilation systems to improve air quality.
• Safer Work Practices: Implementing techniques like wet cutting to reduce dust.
• Limiting Exposure: Minimizing the number of workers in hazardous areas.
  

If these measures fall short, they must provide respirators to protect workers. The OSHA respiratory protection standard (1910.134) requires employers to:

• Develop and implement a written respiratory protection program
• Conduct thorough respiratory hazards assessments in the workplace;
• Provide respirators along with worker medical evaluations and respirator fit testing
• Maintain, store, and clean respirators regularly
• Train workers on proper respirator use
• Maintain a record of air quality data

What Should Be in a Written Respiratory Protection Program?

A written respiratory protection program outlines procedures to protect employees from airborne contaminants and ensures compliance with OSHA standards. Key elements of an effective program include:

1. Hazard Assessment: Employers must identify all potential airborne hazards on-site.
2. Respirator Selection: Choose respirators that can adequately protect workers from specific hazards.
3. Medical Evaluations: Assess workers’ health to make sure they can safely use respiratory equipment.
4. Program Evaluation: The respiratory protection program should be regularly reviewed and updated to ensure effectiveness and compliance with OSHA standards.

These elements align with the OSHA respiratory protection standard (1910.134) to adapt to any changes in workplace hazards. Beyond OSHA’s regulations, the EPA also enforces strict air quality standards to protect public health. These standards are primarily based on the Clean Air Act.

9 Ways to Improve Indoor Air Quality in the Workplace: What You Can Do

The OSHA air quality recommendations aim to protect workers from airborne contaminants, but staying compliant requires a continuous, complex commitment—especially for large organizations with multiple departments. Here’s how workplaces can maintain healthy indoor air quality:

Regular HVAC Maintenance

Schedule regular maintenance for HVAC systems, including filter replacements, duct cleanings, and increasing the filter efficiency to MERV 13 or higher.  This upkeep reduces the risk of pollutants recirculating in the workplace, ensuring clean airflow.

Here’s How: With Perry Weather, you receive alerts the moment pollutant levels exceed safe thresholds —so you don’t have to wait for problems to arise. 

Identify Common Sources of Pollutants

Check for volatile pollutants frequently emitted in newly furnished or renovated spaces, and building materials. These seemingly innocuous everyday materials can irritate the respiratory system and are a major cause of indoor air pollution.

Here’s How: Perry Weather uses optical air quality sensors instead of a filter-based system to automatically track key pollutants like PM2.5 and ozone, along with the current air quality, temperature and humidity at your location. This way, you can proactively monitor the air quality without constant manual checks.

Detect Airborne Hazards in Real-Time

Conduct regular air quality assessments to identify specific hazards unique to the workplace, particularly in high-risk environments.

Here’s How: Perry Weather’s actionable insights let you track the air quality index (AQI) in real time, keeping you informed and prepared, so you are instantly notified before air quality hazards escalate with custom policy-based alerts.

Control Humidity and Temperature

Maintain indoor temperatures and humidity levels within OSHA-recommended ranges to reduce mold and bacteria growth. Humidity between 30 and 50% keeps dust mites, mold, and other allergens under control.

Here’s How: Perry Weather allows users to track weather conditions in real-time like wind speed, wind chill, heat index, precipitation, and more.

Install HEPA Filters

OSHA also recommends installing high-efficiency particulate (HEPA) filters at your workplace. These filters must meet medical-grade standards and should be able to remove at least 99.97% of all allergens.

Integrate Indoor Air Quality Into Purchase Decisions

Building managers must take air quality concerns into account while making any purchase decisions.

Here’s How: Perry Weather integrates with existing HVAC and ventilation systems, including Node-S AQI sensors, allowing users to optimize air circulation and reduce harmful pollutants more effectively.

Improve Cleaning Protocols 

The cleaning products you use can have a massive impact on the indoor air quality. Cleaning agents like bleach, air fresheners, and ammonia, as well as leaving garbage out for a long time can worsen air quality.

Train Employees to Recognize Symptoms

Employers must establish clear protocols for responding to air-related complaints and educate employees on recognizing poor air quality symptoms.

Workers who are informed about air quality risks are more likely to take proactive measures to protect themselves and alert management when necessary.

Simplify Communication and Coordination

It’s crucial for organizations to have a single source of truth to ensure that guidelines and protocols are met without any conflict.

Here’s How: Keep all key stakeholders on the same page with Perry Weather’s centralized dashboard. With this “single source of truth,” it’s easy for teams to act fast, minimize downtime, and ensure all stakeholders have the latest info on safety protocols.

Perry Weather simplifies and automates OSHA compliance, minimizing downtime, and ensuring a safer work environment. With real-time weather monitoring, automated and custom alerts, and seamless integration capabilities, Perry Weather makes it easy for teams to prioritize indoor air quality and workplace safety.

Set It and Forget It: OSHA Compliance Made Easy with Perry Weather

Tired of juggling the OSHA air quality standards with pollutant tracking and ventilation checks? With Perry Weather’s automated air quality monitoring, OSHA compliance doesn’t have to be so complicated. Perry Weather lets you “set it and forget it,” freeing up your time to focus on what matters most to your organization.

Ready to breathe easy? Get Perry Weather to stay OSHA-compliant, be proactive about air quality, optimize your organization’s weather safety, and protect your bottom line. Stay ahead of air quality issues and start your free trial with Perry Weather today.