Study on Mold in the Workplace

Just hearing that mold in the workplace can impede employee productivity usually isn’t enough to convince employers to take proactive measures to prevent and eliminate mold. Words are soft and their meanings are foggy. It takes hard numbers and figures to convince people to take action. This is especially true in this economic climate where only the most dire and immediate threats are addressed. But now a 12 year study about how mold affects workers shows some startling statistics that may change how employers choose to address mold in the workplace.

239 patients with “non-specific building related symptoms” (sick building syndrome) at the University Hospital in Umeå, Sweden responded to a questionnaire. The questions focused on current medical and social status, care, treatment, actions taken, and personality traits. Here are the interesting results:

Fatigue, irritation of the eyes, and facial erythema were the most common weekly symptoms reported. It’s easy to understand how these symptoms can prevent employees from working at their full potential.

Nearly half of the patients claimed that symptoms were unchanged after 7 years or more, despite actions taken. As long as employees continue to work in a sick building, their problems often persist even if they are treated at a hospital.

25% percent of the patients were on the sick-list, and 20% drew disability pension due to persistent symptoms at follow-up. If you think you are saving money by not paying for mold remediation, consider how much it costs to pay employees for sick days and disability pension.

The risk of having zero capability to function at work significantly increased if patients did not visit the hospital more than a year after they first had symptoms. Employees who ignore their initial symptoms can permanently damage their ability to work.

Businesses, by definition, are supposed to make money. But with more information, many employers are seeing how ignoring mold problems in the workplace is actually costing them more money in loss of productivity than it is saving them money. If you think you can’t afford mold remediation, it’s very possible that you actually can’t afford not to remediate.

Share: