29–31 May 2007, Marina Congress Center, Helsinki, Finland

The majority of the workforce in modern societies spends most of its time in office environments. Thus, indoor environment plays a significant and increasing role in well-being at work places. Exposure to hazardous impurities in the indoor environment can lead to symptoms of ill-health, and discomfort due to inadequate ventilation and poor indoor air quality lowers work ability and productivity.

Adequate monitoring of physical, chemical, biological and psychosocial factors in indoor environments requires professional expertise, valid tools and the appropriate methodology. The role of the work organization in resolving indoor air problems has recently been emphasized. Good practices are needed for the effective management of complex multifaceted problems in indoor environments.

Scope of the Conference
Organizer, sponsors and committees
General Information
Important dates
Contact information
Scope of the Conference
To our knowledge WorkAir 2007 is the first international conference in which the quality of indoor air and environment of occupational settings is the main focus. WorkAir 2007 is designed for professionals who assist with and provide consultation to workplaces which are either planning improvements in the quality of indoor environment or struggling with the problems.

In this conference we focus on the quality of indoor air and environment in non-industrial workplaces such as offices, schools, day care centres and hospitals. The term "Indoor air" (the air we breathe) will be widened to "Indoor environment" which we feel more sufficiently covers the current topics in occupational settings.

During the conference, the significance of good indoor air quality, the main causes of problems, their identification and management will be demonstrated. We will also focus on the association between the quality of indoor environment and well-being of individual workers and their work organization. In the conference, we show how to investigate work-related disorders. Finally, we will discuss the role of indoor environment in the productivity and work performance of employees.

The main themes of the Conference are:
The identification and management of indoor environment problems at workplaces
Occupational exposure to chemical substances (including environmental tobacco smoke), microbes and particles in the indoor environment may result in an increased health risk. Indoor environment professionals have to know the extent, main sources and typical outcomes of the problems. They should learn how the exposure occurs, how to measure the hazardous substances and how to carry out the risk assessment and management of the problems. In indoor environment problems, the need for multi-professional team work and project orientation is emphasized.

Good practices for solving indoor environment problems at workplaces
The indoor air problems are often thought to be related to a single agent. Unfortunately, these problems are usually associated with several factors varying from physical agents to mixtures of chemicals and microbes. In addition to this, the psychosocial elements of the work organization make the problem even more complex. Good practices are needed in order to solve the problems. The solving process may be organized by means of a team-project with a realistic time frame and jointly agreed goals and targets.

Design and management of good a indoor environment at workplaces
There is a need to improve our ability to anticipate the indoor environment in the early planning stages. It is important that occupants can set demands on the work environment and have a clear impression of its future quality. Recent development in computer hardware and software technology has brought new tools such as 3D representation of a work space, modelling and simulation software, and visualization methods. These tools are expected to improve the accuracy of the design process and interaction between the designer and the users of the building. In existing buildings, there is a need to have more systematic maintenance procedures and more effective building management.

Work performance, productivity and indoor air
Clear evidence indicates that indoor environment has an impact on health, work performance and productivity. A poor indoor environment is commonly related to sick building syndrome symptoms, respiratory illnesses, sick leave, reduced comfort and work performance. In practice, however, potential health and productivity benefits are often neglected, because the relationship between indoor environment conditions and work performance has not been insufficiently quantified so far. The recent building level calculations based on intervention studies have indicated that measures which are taken to improve indoor climate are cost-effective.

Well-being and indoor environment at workplaces
Indoor air professionals should be aware of the main causes of indoor air related symptoms and diseases and their impact on health and well-being. What are good preventive practices and effective tools in managing the indoor environment problems from the medical point of view? The role of work organization in resolving indoor air problems should be emphasized. These professionals need to know the modern tools for assessing the extent of the indoor air problems at workplaces, for carrying out risk assessment and management, and for examining employees with symptoms.

NIVA Workshop
NIVA Workshop: a training session where good practices for preventing and managing indoor air problems at workplaces, taught by qualified experts is still in its design phase. The keynote lectures will be a part of this workshop and would be a parallel session to the main conference.

NIVA is a Nordic training institute which arranges international courses and symposia. NIVA promotes the health and working conditions of employees by training researchers and practitioners in the field of occupational health and safety.

Organizers, sponsors and committees
Organizers
The Conference is organized by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health in collaboration with the Finnish Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate.

Organizing Committee
Finnish Institute of Occupational Health

Harri Vainio, Director General, Chair
Kari Reijula, Director of Theme Co-chair
Marjaana Lahtinen, Specialized Psychologist
Raimo Niemelä, Senior Research Scientist
Eero Palomäki, Research Engineer, Architect
Anna-Liisa Pasanen, Director of Regional Office
Taina Pääkkönen, Planner
Solveig Borg, Marketing Assistant, Secretary
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health

Erkki Sundquist, Senior Engineer
Finnish Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate

Jorma Säteri, Excecutive Manager

Advisory Committee
Kjell Andersson, University Hospital Örebro, Sweden
Derek Clements-Croome, Reading University, United Kingdom
Jordan N Fink, Medical college of Wisconsin, Unites States
Tari Haahtela, Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa, Skin and Allergy Hospital, Finland
Eeva Häkkä-Rönnholm, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
Matti Jantunen, National Public Health Institute, Finland
Jorma Karppinen, European Foundation, Dublin, Ireland
Bjarne W Olesen, Technical University of Denmark, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Denmark
Anthony Pickering, University of Manchester, School of Medicine, United Kingdom
Kristina Saarela, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
Per Schwarze, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
Jan Sundell, Technical University of Denmark (ICIEE), Denmark
Ken Takahashi, University of Occupa