Poor office accommodation and its health implications on workers’ performance

Introduction

The concept of office accommodation has to do with not only the physical structure such as providing shelter for employees but also the immediate surrounding and related facilities around the office surrounding required for employees to carry out their duties effectively. The environment is also manipulated by man for his existence since it is his immediate surroundings. Wrongful manipulation introduces hazards that makes the environment unsafe for employees in the work place and impedes their performance and efficiency.

Chapins (2005) defined an office environment as the surrounding in which workers performs his/her work. While an effective work place environment is where results can be achieved as expected by the management. The physical environment affects how employees in an organisation interact, perform tasks and are led. Physical environment is an aspect of the work environment that have directly affected the human sense and subtly changed interpersonal interactions thus productivity and performance. This is so because the characteristics of an office or a place of meeting for a group have consequences regarding productivity and satisfaction level. The work place or office environment is the most critical factor in keeping an employee satisfaction level. In today’s business world, office environment is different, diverse and changing constantly (Mike, 2010).

Workers are living in a growing economy and have almost limitless job opportunities. This combination of factors has created an environment where the business needs employees more than the employees need the business (Smith, 2011). According to Humphrines (2005), a large number of work (office) environment studies have shown that workers/users are satisfied with references and work space features. These features preferred by users are highly significant to their productivity, performance and work space satisfaction. They are; lighting and ventilation rates, access to natural light and acoustic environment. Lighting and other factors like organic features has been found to have positive influence on employees health and consequently on productivity. This is because light has profound impact on workers/people physical, psychological and physiological health and on their overall performance at the work place. Ambient features in office environment such as lighting, temperature existence of windows, free air movement etc. suggest that these elements of the physical environment influence employees’ attitude, behaviours, satisfaction thus enhances their overall performance and productivity.

Concept of office environment/ accommodation

The office environment is one of the basic necessities of man as he carries out his daily activities and as such it tremendously affects man’s health and well being. It is widely acknowledged that adequate office accommodation contributes immensely to the good health of the workers. It is a key requirement for an efficient and to satisfy the labour force also the foundation of the public health (Smith, 2011).  The office environment consists of two components that are physical environment and behaviour component. Physical environment of an office accommodation consist of the comfort level (presence of the office building and working tools) which influence health provider’s availability productivity and competence. Also there is an office layout (presence of privacy) which influences workers productivity and efficiency. The behaviour component of environment (how workers interact with each other and absence of noise) tends to influence the productivity and responsiveness and totality they may improve or decrease health workers performance.

According to World Health Organisation [WHO] (1961) on public health, aspect of housing to use the term “residential environment” which is defined as physical structure the man uses and the environs of the structure including all necessary services, facilities equipment and devices needed or desired for the physical and mental Health and the social well being of the family and the neighbourhood or main district of which the office accommodation is one of them.

Types of offices (building)

Building classification allows a user to differentiate buildings and rationalise market data that said, classification is an art not a science. And each category is defined in relation to its counterparts. Office buildings are generally classified into one of the four types or categories. While a definitive formula for each does not exist, the general characteristics are as follow;

1. Type A
2. Type B
3. Type C.
4. Type D

Type A office building

These office building represent the newest and highest quality buildings in the market. They are generally best looking buildings with the best construction and possess high quality building infrastructure. Class A buildings also are well located have good access and are professionally managed. As a result of this they attract the highest quality workers and also made with durable materials. This type of office building meets up with 100% of public health requirement (Aibor & Olorunda, 2006).

Type B office building

This is next in line to type A office building. Class B buildings are generally a little older; but still good quality management. It has at least 75% requirement of public health regulations. They are sited on a good soil and are constructed with strong impervious materials. Since type B office building posses 75% of all the requirement of Type A office building it requires some little amendment and provision to make them meet the standard of type A (Aibor & Olarunda, 2006).

Type C office building

This is a  low  class of office building and are build in less desirable areas and are often in need of extensive renovation. Architecturally these buildings are the least desirable and building infrastructure and technology is out dated. They are constructed with mild material (Barbor, 2009).

Type D office  building

This is the poorest of all office accommodation or building. It is constructed with poor materials and has no public health requirement.

Problems associated with poor office environment/ accommodation

According to Lyster (2003) the problem associated with poor office environment (accommodation) include the following

Overcrowding:

Overcrowded environment is a common problem in developed as well as developing countries in the world today. And an office can be overcrowded when properties and people there in it are more than the available space in the various office accommodations. Overcrowding has presented itself as a very dangerous problem in all aspects of public health because when an office is been overcrowded with too many workers working in it and sharing the limited space as they attend to students as well as others, it will lead to the sustainability and proliferation of sporadic outbreak of air borne disease .

Overcrowding has been repeatedly shown to facilitate the spread of communicable disease such as tuberculosis, measles within the workers and students who comes in to be attended to in the college. According to the building adoptive by law, of the Public Health Law 2010 section, (20) Item 1 and 2 stated that no living room in any building shall have less than eleven square meters of floor area an average height of less than three meter and width of less than two meters, articles shall have mean height of not less than two meters, forty centimetres and outside the building shall have a minimum of two meters, forty centimetres.

Poor lighting

Poor lighting as a problem associated with building including offices is due to lack of light within a specific building. It could be due to ill-functioning light, and people experiencing light deprivation are likely to experience depression; bone or cavity pain. Poor lighting has many effects whether in our home, school, office, street or in public building and these effect include eye strain, accident, and high human error rate (Bradford, 2002).

Poor ventilation:

Poor ventilation has led to a lot of hazard both at home and in office. It leads to presence of mould and mildew which is formed on walls and object as a result of wet warm air that result in lack of free movement of fresh air. Poor ventilation occurs as a result of lack of planning of buildings and the inexperience of most of the architect in office buildings both at home and in institutions. It creates a lot of unwholesome epidemics of diseases among people such as tuberculosis. Most people build office accommodations without even showing consideration to either through or cross ventilations and most office are constructed with one window and rarely two which are not adequate and permit free flow of air into the office accommodations (Dan, 2008).

According to the Public Health Law 2006, section 21 item 1 and 2 every room shall have at least one window in one wall opening directly to the external air and the total area of the widow or window of any one room clear of the frame shall be canal to at least one eight of the floor area of the room.

Dilapidated wall:

This is one problem that is also associated with poor office accommodation and its environment which renders the building poor due to lack of durable materials used in construction of the building and lack of maintenance. Dilapidated structure can lower the value of the office accommodation on that of nearby buildings which could also cost some one’s life, if due care is not taken cognizance of, dilapidated wall also occur especially in buildings that has been allowed in a state of disrepair for a long time. The use of sub standard construction materials such as rod, block, cement etc. in building operations also result in poor office buildings (Festus, 2009).

Broken Floor:

When durable materials are not used in making the floor of the building, it tends to break easily and cause dust which could harbour in dents and can cause accident and injury to workers as well as students and visitors health.  According to The Public Health Law Building Adoptive by law  2006, section 23 item 1 and 3, the design of any building which is to provided with reinforced concrete floor and roof and beam shall be prepared only by qualified structural engineer or architect and the working drawing and calculations in respect any such building may be called by the council for inspection where floor the minimum breath of every joist shall be five centimetres and the depth in centimetres of each joist shall be equal to half. The clear space of the floor in metre, plus one additional inch as in example in the following table:

Table 1: Title the required measurement for floor plan

(Source: Delta State Public Health Law, 2006)

Leaky roof:

Roofs sometimes develop leakage years by before the entire roof actually needs changing. This are usually caused by localized damage such as cracked or missing shingle or shakes or on a flat roof, a blustered or cracked areas leaky roof can result to flood in the house which can result to climatic factors and destruction in the office accommodation. Leaky roof can be a problem for not only the roof but for the entire interior of the building as well and it can ruin the office building which affect the workers in the institution.

Drainage system:

One of the most common and most disconcerting of all these problems is poor surface drainage. Poor drainage is a problem that may exist from start, and it may developed over time due to un-durable material used in the construction of drain and lack of proper supervision and maintenance of drainage system, therefore leading to flooding with the office premises, odour nuisance etc (Newton, 2011).

Causes of poor office building (accommodation)

Lack of planning or poor planning:

Erutase (2013) stated that poor planning or lack of proper planning is one of the reasons why there exist the problems of poor office accommodation or building. The majority of office building are not planned for before they are built these occurs because town planners and engineers in charge of the building neglect the importance of planning.

First they fail to take cognizance of the soil in which the building will be sited upon whether the area is swampy or not. Secondly due to corruption, they will tend to purchase undesirable or sub-standard (inferior) materials for the construction of the buildings and after the building must have been sited for some period of month to years it then result in one problem or the other e.g. the dilapidation of walls or broken floors.

Attitude of workers:

Most workers (employees) working in various office of the institution (college) have various attitude towards the office environment. While some show a nonchalant attitude others show an attitude of “I don’t care”, this is because the office accommodation is not theirs but belongs to the government they tends to neglect proper maintenance of the office accommodations’ and its environs as well as the facilities therein.

Lack of supervision:

Cumura (2011) stated that the co-operative attitude of Health Officers towards good office sanitation is another major problem facing poor office buildings.  In other words if the Health Officers play their role and carried out adequate supervision problem associated with poor office accommodation (building) will be reduced to its barest minimum.

Provision of inadequate office accommodation for workers:

Shortage of office to accommodate all workers can result in overcrowding which could in turn lead to suffocation, high incident of disease, moral delinquency and the impairment of aesthetic value of office accommodation (building) in the environment (Osuide, 2004).

The health implication of poor office accommodation on workers performance

Park (2007) stated that poor office accommodation (building) can lead to the following which in turn affect performance of workers i.e. the amount of time they spend as well as the quality of performance they put in their jobs, they include;

Respiratory infection

When the office accommodation are in poor condition of overcrowding and ill ventilation, it result in disease conditions such as common cold, tuberculosis, influenza, diphtheria, bronchitis, measles, whooping cough etc. among workers or employees.

Rat infestation

Poor building also results in rat infestation in terms of broken floor, overgrown weeds in the office premises, dirty drains also attracts rodents e.g. rattus spp. They help in transmitting disease such as lassa fever plaque, rat bite fever, marine typhus salmonellosis. These are deadly diseases that can set in epidemic manner and when this is contracted by workers, it will lower their performance level as a result of their absenteeism (Ichide, 2003).

Accidents

Accidents tends to occur within the office environment when the office accommodation (building) is in poor condition such as cracked walls, broken floors and every other defects in the office building and its environment which is tremendously affect the health of the workers there by resulting to morbidity or mortality of workers or employees in complicated cases thus reducing the efficiency (performance level) of the workers (Susan, 2003).

Psychological effects

Susan (2003) stated that on every aspect of life, mental, physical, emotional, social and economical, living in any poor building can have negative effect on workers. Amadasum (2000) states the effect of poor office building which include poor ventilation, overcrowding are a contributing factor, the effect of poor office building and its environs on psychological aspect of worker’s or employees. They include:

• It results in nervousness, irritability, high temper, mental unrest, behavioural and personal disorder and mental breakdown.
• It causes physical injuries and disability.
• It promotes social vices such as crime rate etc.
• It also results in epidemic of diseases etc.

Standard of office accommodations and its required facilities

Building design

• The architectural design of the office accommodation should be workers or employees friendly and not pose any danger to them.
• The materials used for the building should be of adequate standard, durable, fire resistance and not pose any danger to health.

Occupancy

Depending on the nature of time spent in an office accommodation as well as the size of the office the various sizes are required for worker occupancy according to standard. It also includes the various office sections in a college.

Table 2: Office occupancy level

(Source: Office Space Standard, 2009)

For per-person standard of office accommodations the following are required:

Employee’s requiring individual offices

President (400sq ft)

Vice president (200sq. Ft)

Managers (150 sq.ft)

Employee’s requiring cubicle

Secretaries (125sq.ft)

Customer service Reps (125sq.ft)

Accountants (150sq.ft)

Programmers (125sq.ft)

Engineers (175sq.ft)

Employees open Area

Data Entry (125sq.ft)

Clerks (125sq.ft)

Temporary workers (100sq.ft)

Other office area requirements

Reception Area (100sq.ft + 10sq.ft per person waiting)

Conference Room (50sq.ft + 255sq.ft per person seated)

Title Room (200sq.ft)

Storage Room or library (200sq.ft).

Sanitary facilities

Office washrooms: Minimum scale of provision of sanitary appliances for staff toilet in offices, shops, factories and other non-domestic premises used at work place.

Table 3: Required standard for female toilet

(Source: Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare, 2013)

Above 100 persons required 8, plus1 WC and wash basin for every unit or fraction of a unit of 25 persons.

Male toilets: Every male toilet should have at least one WC. Considerate should be given to the provision of privacy screens between urinals.

Table 2.4: Title required standard for male toilet

Above 100 persons required 4 plus 1 WC and wash basin for every unit of 50 persons.

(Source: Workplace Health, Safety and welfare, 2013)

Water supply: There should be adequate amount of safe drinking water, for washing and flushing of toilets. There should also be wholesome water in adequate amount for all cleaning exercises within the office premises.

Refuse: Each office Unit or fraction should be provided with a sanitary waste bin with tight fitting cover and should be placed at strategic corners for easy location. The container should be adequate in capacity and sufficient to hold all refuse accumulated between the period of collections. These refuse should also be collected and disposal sanitarily.

Office food station:       The food station often known as cafeteria should be well maintained in terms hygiene to ensure that workers eat health and hygienic food during their lunch break. The food station should be properly sited far from swampy area and should be adequately ventilated with self closed doors (Federal Ministry of Environment (FME), 2005).

Ways of improving office accommodation’s and its environs

Cromady (2004) stated that more resources are needed to tackle the problem of substandard buildings and improving public health. He also stated that the level of enforcement activities actually increases over all between years considered and expected to continue to do so but are mostly defected by workers complaints made available. This is one way to ensure that most workers who are victims of poor office accommodation are helped in other to reduce the impact of poor office accommodations on health. Local authorities should be used to control this in a strategic way to address the great risk to health.

To reduce the health effect of poor office building and ensures that workers are not exposed to danger more resources must be made available to renovate the buildings in other to improve the health status of workers. Also, at tension should be given to architects, planners and constructors to ensure that durable materials are used. Accorded to English House Condition Survey (2005), inspection and educating the populace regarding poor building will also improve the condition of poor office buildings.

Benefits of standard office accommodation to workers

Stanley (2008) stated that the possible benefits from standard office accommodation for workers include:

1. Prevention of disease such as tuberculosis, measles that are associated with poor buildings thus increasing the amount of time workers spend in their jobs.
2. It will result in health promotion and longevity of life span
3. It will create an enabling environment for workers to carry out their jobs efficiently
4. It will improve the moral ways of life of workers
5. it helps in the reduction of various hazards e.g. fire hazard
6. it will reduce property damage
7. results in better hygiene conditions for staffs or workers as they do their jobs
8. In all it increases their general performance level. Since health is wealth and a healthy worker can do none job as required of him or her.

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