50pc of all buildings are sick

Half of the major commercial and office buildings in the country are "sick" and pose a health hazard.
A survey by the Human Resources Ministry shows that these buildings do not meet international indoor air quality standards.
Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr Fong Chan Onn said a survey on 2,000 workplaces showed that 50 per cent of the buildings were contaminated with chemical and mechanical pollutants.
This, he said, resulted in the "sick building syndrome" which affected work quality and performance.
He said the representative survey reflected the overall state of commercial and office buildings in the country.
"The ventilation systems in these buildings — offices, restaurants, entertainment and commercial centres — is so poor that toxic pollutants such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, respirable particulates, formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds are easily inhaled by the workers.
"These are emitted by diesel engines powering generators, air-conditioners, tobacco smoke and photostating machines. Formal- dehyde is found in office furniture and carpets," Fong said, adding that the work environment composed a large part of a person’s life.
From the surveyed buildings, the ministry’s Department of Occupational Safety and Health discovered that carbon dioxide levels exceeded 1,000 parts per million (ppm), the respirable particulate was over 150 micrograms per cubic metre, carbon monoxide levels over 10 ppm and formaldehyde exceeded 0.1 ppm.
Fong warned that tobacco smoke contained more than 1,000 chemicals, 20 of which were toxic and caused cancer, cardiovascular diseases, stroke and chronic lung illnesses.
To address the issue, the ministry has come out with a Code of Practice on Indoor Air Quality, giving employers and building operators a two-year trial period to meet the required standard.
"This has worked in countries such as Singapore and Australia. We hope there will be voluntary compliance or we will have to invoke the powers vested under Section 15 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 1994."
Fong was launching the Code of Practice on Indoor Air Quality at the Hotel Sheraton Subang.
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