The average U.S. worker takes 14 sick days every twelve months – and today’s employers are doing everything they can to help lower this sick time and increase productivity. A good place to begin is the office environment itself. How is your inside air quality?
 
Millions of individuals are residing with allergy symptoms – they’re sensitive to dust, mildew spores, animal dander, or pollen. Very often, these people are mistakenly informed that carpets and rugs contribute to their health problems, and that they should be removed from their office environment. But the fact is, that removing these can in fact lead to worse conditions.  
 
Think about it: a lot of things that trigger allergies are carried in the air and enter the body through the nose. In an indoor environment, gravity causes these things that trigger allergies to fall to the floor. If your office flooring is hardwood, tile, or linoleum, those allergens can go directly back up into the air every time the furnace or air conditioner blows, a door opens, or another person strolls by. The allergens then stay in the air right up until they finally settle back down. This transpires over and over again – all day long.

On the other hand, if your office has carpet on the floor, the contaminants in the air that tumble down are caught and held safely right up until they’re removed by proper commercial carpet cleaning. The carpet acts as a short-term filter right up until it’s cleaned (by day-to-day vacuuming, for example). So if you are in a carpeted area and you see allergens in the air, they’re probably coming from the hard surface regions on furniture – not the carpet.

Even though a carpet cannot allergy-proof an office 100 percent, it can contribute significantly to a cleaner work environment – as long as it’s maintained effectively with regular carpet maintenance. Be sure to use the right carpet cleansing solutions, equipment, and services – those that have been authorized by the Carpet & Rug Institute (CRI). Not all products clean equally well, and some can even harm your carpet. Look for vacuum cleaners with the proper filtration to hold grime and dust from escaping back again into the air.

By taking these steps, you’ll help keep your inside air cleaner and your workers healthier.