Health and Safety

Buildings, facilities and services can have a substantial influence on health and safety (H&S). Ergonomic furniture may help to prevent or reduce complaints of the arm, neck and/or shoulder. Insufficient lighting, too much noise, and unhealthy indoor air may result in work fatigue, head ache, irritation of eyes, nose or throat, and increased blood pressure. Hazardous materials, harmful substances and radiation may lead to severe diseases. Slippery floors and stairs may cause fall accidents. In plants, ill-considered production processes and unthoughtful designed machines may even kill people. So H&S are relevant values by itself, but also have an impact on other values such as productivity, employee satisfaction, Corporate Social Responsibility, sustainability, profitability and risk. This chapter discusses the responsibility of FM and CREM managers and presents a state of the art of FM/CREM related research on H&S, with a focus on the indoor climate and workplace layout. It also presents the benefits and costs of various interventions to improve H&S. The chapter ends with examples of input KPIs to measure H&S characteristics of the supply side, output KPIs to measure the actual and perceived impact of facilities on health and safety of the end users, and suggestions for further research.