KUALA LUMPUR: As many begin returning to work after an extended period of the Movement Control Order (MCO), indoor air quality in offices and workplaces should be made a high priority.
Alliance for Safe Community chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye today in a statement said owners of buildings, offices and shopping malls must take the responsibility on the matter as health experts have cautioned about the danger of Covid-19 being spread via air conditioners.
"In Guangzhou, China, a group of researchers pointed out that droplet transmission of the virus from an index patient eating in an air-conditioned restaurant infected others due to the direction of airflow from the air conditioner.
"So, it is obvious that the droplet transmission was prompted by the air-conditioned ventilation. Proper air circulation in any workplace is very critical," he said.
Lee said health authorities have also pointed out some diseases that were acquired from buildings with centralised air conditioning that was switched off for long periods like the MCO lockdown.
"If moulds can grow on items in shopping complexes and supermarkets, they can also grow in the air-conditioning ventilation systems.
"According to health authorities, it has been established that Legionnaires Disease, a form of pneumonia, that spreads chiefly in water droplets through air conditioning systems, comes from mouldy air-conditioning and this disease also causes respiratory failure.
"Owners of buildings, offices and shopping malls must take heed of the advice of the authorities and take steps to improve the indoor air quality, more so when such workplaces re-open after more than 50 days of (partial) lockdown," he said.
He urged building owners and employers to consult their occupational safety and health officers (SHOs) to advise and assist them in taking appropriate measures to address the issue of poor and contaminated indoor air quality.
"It is therefore the responsibility of all building owners and employers to observe and comply with the Health Ministry's standard operating procedures (SOPs) and ensure proper air circulation and improve ventilation in all buildings and workplaces.
"After having stayed safe and indoors all this while, workers are entitled to return to work in a safe and healthy environment. The safety and health of clients, customers and the public must also be assured and protected," he said.