indoor air concern

[afdmello]

One employee is coughing badly and is informing that the cough is present only at the workplace and not at home or during the weekends. What approach will you take in resolving this issue.

Observed there is a air diffuser in the vicinity and cold air blows into the work area. Asked the maintenance to cover the employee side with a deflector to prevent air blowing in that direction.

Any further input will be greatly appreciated.

Afd

[witsd]

I'd start by getting them to swap seats with another employee in a different area for a week, and seeing if that has any effect.

I'd then test the humidity and if that was low, consider getting some potted houseplants.

Start with the simple solutions and work upwards.

[bernicarey]

I once had a situation where one small room with about 4 staff, buried in the internals of a large office block, was known for having coughs and headaches.
We found the RH ridiculously low for UK average, due to poor Air Con set-up, being around 12%. Typical UK is 25-50%.
Took us a long while to get the air-con sorted, but water intake helps.
When I was in the USA, our ambient RH was often below 10%, but we drank plenty of water because of the heat and nobody had any problems.

[afdmello]

Thanks,
Great but simple insights.

I spoke to the person on Friday. She was still having the cough despite the deflector. Will target humidity. Moving is a bit cumbersome due to shortage and people are protective about their places.

AFD