The Role of Factors Affected by Workplace Architecture in the Prevalence of Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) Among Employees of Urmia Roads and Urban Development Building

Solmaz Tabe Afshar; Sahar  Toofan; Arash  Saghafi Asl

doi:10.18502/tkj.v14i2.10661

Solmaz Tabe Afshar PhD. Candidate, Department of Architecture, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran.
Sahar Toofan Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran
Arash Saghafi Asl Assistant Professor, Department of Urban Planning, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/tkj.v14i2.10661

Keywords: Sick Building Syndrome, Indoor Environmental Quality, Workplaces, Architectural Assessment, Physical Factors, Ergonomic layout

Abstract

Introduction: Various factors affect the employees' health and well-being in the workplace. The present study aimed to examine the outbreak of Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) and the role of factors and parameters affected by the architecture design of Urmia Roads and Urban Development building (e.g., thermal comfort, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), noise, lighting, layout design-ergonomics, and design style (decoration)) by examining symptoms seen in employees, to achieve reduction strategies in future actions.

Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical research was done with a Cross-sequential study among 123 employees in the summer of 2021. Specified symptoms, factors, and parameters were examined through the questionnaire, and its reliability was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha. In the next step, the data were analyzed using different statistical methods through SPSS-25 software.

Results: Results indicated that some symptoms, including fatigue, headache, distraction, lack of concentration, muscle pain, hearing problems, high blood pressure, and stress, made up more complaints, and individuals complained about overcrowding, lack of workspace for each person, and noise. Moreover, the parameters caused by Layout-ergonomics and noise were identified as the most important reasons that reduced Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ (and the subsequent advent of SBS.

Conclusion: The obtained findings confirmed the presence of syndrome in Roads and Urban Development Building, so that improper layout of overcrowding uses and toilets, lack of speech privacy, and inadequate space and dimensions for employees, were the most important, were the most important reasons for employees' complaints.