A Regulation To Control Indoor Air Quality Wanted

PORT DICKSON, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- A survey, conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Department last year, found that 62 per cent of its 2,000 respondents wanted a regulation to monitor indoor air quality be established.
Negeri Sembilan Environment, Human Resource and Public Complaints Action Committee Chairman Datuk Peter Lai Yit Fee said 22 per cent were happy with mere guidelines, while 16 per cent wanted a code of practice when it came to indoor air quality management.
Speaking at the Indoor Air Quality Seminar here Tuesday, he said the government wanted to ensure that those working indoors or inside commercial buildings were breathing quality air.
He said most individuals spent as high as 90 per cent a day in an indoor environment such as offices, homes and in their cars. Therefore, quality indoor environment was crucial to a person's health.
He said currently, only a code of practice was being implemented to monitor indoor air quality.
The Indoor Air Quality Code of Practice was established last year and issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Department in August 2005, he added.
"The code is a guideline on the minimum indoor air quality to ensure workers in a building are not exposed to polluted air that can influence their health and productivity," he said.
It focused on the pollution of five types of chemicals in non-industrial workplaces like offices, restaurants, education and training centres, commercial centres and entertainment centres, he added.
The chemicals were carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, respirable particulates, formaldehyde and total volatile organic compounds.
He said the code would be in implementation for two years before being reviewed.