If you own or manage a manufacturing plant located inside a steel building, you know how much indoor air quality (IAQ) can affect both your workers and products. A manufacturing plant poses a higher risk for indoor air pollutants than other types of work environments such as an office. Proper ventilation will make your building safer and healthier for your employees and prevent products from getting damaged. Here at DCI, we offer many types of steel building ventilation options so that no matter what process occurs in your building, you can be sure it is vented properly.
Signs of Poor Air Quality
It is important to know what types of pollutants are produced during your manufacturing process. Many industrial processes use combustion, which gives off pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, fine and ultrafine particles, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and formaldehyde. You should also know what symptoms can arise from too much exposure to these pollutants. Symptoms may vary depending on the pollutant, but could include fever, cough, or shortness of breath. If you notice a pattern to when and how the symptoms appear, they may be connected to your workplace.
- Symptoms occur only at work and disappear at home
- Symptoms only appear during a certain time of day, season, or location at work
- Symptoms started when a new project at work started
- Others at work have similar complaints
- Doctor diagnosed an illness related to IAQ
How to Improve Ventilation
If your workplace has an IAQ problem, you need to address it right away. IAQ problems are often caused by poor ventilation. Depending on what type of manufacturing and processes occur at your steel building, you have many different ventilation options.
If your manufacturing process gives off smoke, you need a smoke vent. Here at DCI, we offer both mechanical and drop out options. Mechanical smoke vents open and close to release smoke as needed, while drop out vents provide a consistent method for smoke to escape.
Power ventilation includes roof-mounted and wall-mounted fans. Powered fans force hot air out of your building while occupied. Our wall fans come in a pre-assembled kit that includes the fan, motor, wall housing, gravity backdraft damper, and OSHA Guard. Our roof fans offer many of the same options and also work well with our custom Roof Curbs.
Gravity ventilation, also called natural ventilation, releases hot air through the roof as it naturally rises. We offer ridge vents and round vents. Our ridge vents come in many options, including low profile, low volume, and high volume. Round vents allow for more targeted installation anywhere on your roof. Since they operate without power, round vents make a cost-effective venting solution.
Get Proper Steel Building Ventilation with DCI!
Don’t let improper steel building ventilation hold back your manufacturing process. Choose from a wide variety of options to properly ventilate your building and help your business grow. For more about our steel building accessories, call us at (800) 868-9910 or send an email to sales@designcomponents.com, or request a quote here.
