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The Impact of Equipment Failure |
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We recently completed an indoor air quality (IAQ) investigation in a small two-story office building. The symptoms reported by occupants included shortness of breath, heavy breathing, and burning eyes during certain portions of the day. Building Air Quality (BAQ) was called in after property management had reviewed mechanical systems and maintenance and operations issues and found nothing which could be considered a source of the complaints.
While we can't boast that we found the source immediately, after two days of discussions, testing, and evaluation, our own staff exhibited similar symptoms in the complaint area. Results of this investigation showed us that an automatic telephone dialer machine caused the mystery problems.
The client, a credit collection agency, has been in business for more than 10 years. The automatic dialer had been in use almost that long. Although it does appear to be an unusual situation, it was relatively easy to identify.
After reviewing mechanical systems maintenance and operations issues and walking through the space, BAQ's investigators went above the ceiling. There was nothing unusual there either. For a while, we were honestly stumped. Early during the second day of our visit though, similar symptoms began to occur to both the occupants of the building and BAQ's investigators. Interestingly, we made note of a slightly "acrid" odor in one section of the suite.
Although computer monitors, CPUs, and even telephone equipment all appeared new the automatic dialer that quietly sat in a back corner of the office was not. Upon further investigation, we found that this type of unit uses a small ballast in its operations. After removing the cover, we noticed that the ballast was extremely hot. A simple call to the manufacturer confirmed our suspicions and the equipment was quickly replaced. The problems ceased and have not recurred.
What could have been done to avoid this? It appears that very little could have been done in anticipation of this occurring. Ventilation levels and outside air quantities exceeded recommended standards. Although the tenant space was heavily occupied, it was clean and well organized and did not raise any concerns. Unfortunately, a quiet piece of machinery that had worked successfully for a number of years chose to fail, causing IAQ complaints. In fact, this problem could have been occurring to a lesser degree for a number of months without any complaints being raised.
We learned never to discount equipment as a potential source just because "it's never been a problem." |
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