Published date: Jun 19 2018

Journal Title: KnE Life Sciences

Issue title: International Conference of Occupational Health and Safety (ICOHS 2017)

Pages: 566–574

DOI: 10.18502/kls.v4i5.2585

D L Utami

S M Nasrisjahrul@ui.ac.id

The sick building syndrome comprises of various non-specific symptoms that occur in the occupants of a building. It commonly increases sickness absenteeism and causes a decrease in productivity of the workers. Evidence suggests that what is called the Sick Building Syndrome are at least three separate entities, which has at least one cause. The following are some of the factors that might be primarily responsible for Sick Building Syndrome such as: Chemical contaminants, Biological contaminants, inadequate ventilation and Electromagnetic radiation. In many cases, it is due to insufficient maintenance of the HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) system in the building. As this syndrome is increasingly becoming a major occupational hazard, the analytic cross-sectional design was used. Based on data obtained, 80 percent of respondents reported significant on-going health problems in the eyes, head, and the nose. About 60 percent had bad symptoms in the throat, the stomach and cough, 50 percent had gastrointestinal disorders, 40 percent fatigue and 25 percent had all symptoms of sick building syndrome. Forty respondents were recruited to the study,
with a mean age of 35 years (range 20–55). To support the evidence of Sick Building Syndrome, further checks are needed for some of the factors in next research, that is, measurement of Chemical contaminants, Biological contaminants, inadequate ventilation and Electromagnetic radiation.

Keywords: indoor air pollution, sick building syndrome, occupational health

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