Maintaining Your Manufacturing Ventilation System

Steel Building Ventilation Maintenance is Critical

A company’s main focus should be the safety and health of employees. Installing and maintaining a strong ventilation system in your steel building helps you maintain employee safety, meet OSHA Compliance, and prevent money loss from on-the-job injuries and illnesses. An industrial ventilation system is meant to bring in clean outdoor air and to remove the ‘contaminated’ air that’s been created inside your building. However, it isn’t enough to just implement a ventilation system into your business.

HVAC systems that are improperly operated or maintained can contribute to sick building syndrome (SBS); SBS has physical symptoms without clearly identifiable causes. Some of these symptoms include dry mucous membranes and eye, nose, and throat irritation. These disorders lead to increased employee sick days and reduced work efficiency. – EPA

As a business owner, you should ensure that your building and employees are protected by a well-maintained ventilation system. It is important to keep a thorough record of all HVAC maintenance history as well as system problems and complaints. Documenting employee complaints of indoor air quality and what was done to remedy the problem can make servicing the building ventilation quicker and easier in the future.

Why Diligently Maintain Your Steel Building’s Ventilation System?

Reduce heat stress and potential heat strokes within the workplace
Supply people with fresh air from outside of the building
Control indoor air pollution
Reduce exposure to airborne contaminants like harmful gases
Reduce the risk of a fire or explosion

Overall, ventilation systems tend to fail or decrease in efficiency due to a lack of proper maintenance. Failure to maintain or improper maintenance of your business’s internal ventilation system allows the system to degrade over time or to face unauthorized changes which prevents it from delivering the required exhaust airflow.

The process of installing, testing, and maintaining an industrial ventilation system must be done by trained, specialized professionals in order to prevent a broad range of problems like mal-installation, broken equipment, and more. Industrial ventilation systems for steel buildings should be designed with protecting employees and the building itself in mind. An improper system may not be able to properly combat heat issues or eliminate airborne contaminants.

Here are some considerations for a new ventilation system:

Building Size
Framework and Structure of the Building
Number of Floors (and ceiling heights)
Number and placement of employees in the building
Use (Manufacturing, Production, Distribution)
Chemicals/ Gases / Fumes Presence
Humidity
Air Flow Rates flow rates (outdoor air vs recirculated air) and Pressure Differences between “high-risk” and other areas
Noise
Aesthetic / Architecture of the Building

How Do I Know If There’s A Problem With My Ventilation System?

If you are maintaining your ventilation system periodically you should be able to stop any problems in their tracks. Your ventilation system’s airflow can be checked visually, with smoke generators, or measured with air velometers. However, to know if you need expert help you may want to look for signs such as:

A Broken/Slipping Belt
Reversed Polarity
Clogged ducts
Holes, cracks, or openings on your ducts
Closed dampers in your ducts
Insufficient makeup air
Moved contaminant sources

Looking at signs like these can help ensure that you are protecting your employees and building from potential ventilation problems.

Design Components Inc. OSHA Ventilation Equipment

Design Components prides itself on providing the highest quality steel building accessories, including top-tier ventilation systems. We are committed to ensuring your business is up to date and complying with OSHA guidelines and standards.

Power Ventilation
Gravity Ventilation
Smoke Vents
Skylights

Design Components, Inc is located just outside of the Atlanta area, but ships all over the United States. Your property and employees are our top priority, which is why we’ll work to keep them safe and secure. Design Components is happy to provide your business with highly engineered metal products.