How to Run a Green Small Business Part 7

What you don’t see can kill you. Ironically as we continue to seal our offices tighter to increase energy efficiency, we increase the risk to ourselves and our workers from hazards that we can’t see, smell or taste. Let’s look at these:

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Detect for Radon Gas.
   Radon is the second biggest cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking. It’s responsible for an estimated 21,000 deaths each year and is present in all fifty states. Since Radon originates in the soil, testing should be done on the lowest level of your business that is occupied. It would be most hazardous if you work out of your home in a converted basement or in a ground level facility such as a warehouse or garage. Set up a short term test kit which will be exposed for just a few days. Then seal it. Send to the lab referenced on the kit for evaluation. If your workplace is below the safe threshold, you can rest easily.

2. Mitigate for Radon Gas
   If your test results are over the safe threshold, you’ll need to follow up with long term monitoring. Depending on the results, you’ll have to take steps for radon mitigation such as sealing cracks and other openings in the foundation of your building. You’ll probably need to also install vent pipes and fans.

3. Install Carbon Monoxide Detectors
   Carbon monoxide exposure can cause headaches, cognitive impairment, neurological disorders and death. They gas can be released by faulty heating systems and can be particularly hazardous in loading docks and working garages. To check on the CO levels in your business, you should install a CO monitor. They look like smoke detectors and will keep constant watch on the air quality in your workspace.

4. 

   Ban Smoking in Your Workplace Smoking is a major source of CO pollution in the workspace. According to a Gallup poll, 95 percent of Americans believe companies should either ban smoking totally in the workplace or restrict it to separately ventilated areas. Smokers are a drag on your health costs because they die 10-15 years earlier than non smokers. End of life care for them is very expensive.
   
   It’s probably cost effective to offer your smokers a free how to quit program. As an ex-smoker I do miss the right to light up at work now and then, but I know that my health and productivity are better, now that I breath green.