Leitz,of office supplies, office solutions and stationery, discusses the importance of air quality when it comes to classroom health and safety
While this school year is nearer to ‘normal’ than the previous one, it’s safe to say that a lot has changed, post-pandemic. Learning practices were quickly adapted during lockdowns in order to safeguard staff, students, and their families – and all of these groups are, understandably, more health and safety conscious as UK schools adapt once more to school in person.
With large groups of people spending several hours a day in close proximity, it is no mystery how one student coming into school feeling unwell could lead to an entire outbreak – we see it all the time with things like flu, chickenpox, conjunctivitis and stomach bugs. After all, we have been through over the past year and a half, there is an even greater need to promote health and safety in the classroom.
Here are our top three tips for looking after students’ and staff’s wellbeing as the new term begins.
Stay vigilant with surfaces
Schools across the UK have probably used enough sanitiser to fill a swimming pool over the past 18 months! The pandemic highlighted the prevalence of contact transmissions in relation to everything from the common cold to COVID-19. Continue to sanitise your high-contact surfaces at least once a day to help control germs and bacteria throughout the school year – you can even get your students involved by making ‘clean up time’ an integral part of the daily routine.
2. Upgrade your supplies
Wipes, cleansers and other solvents work well for tackling cleaning tasks, but may be irritating to some types of skin, and can be a hassle (and expensive!) to constantly replace. An alternative would be to upgrade some of your classroom supplies to versions that could be safely washed with soap and water. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea recently introduced washable keyboards and mice that can be fully-immersed in water that are perfect for shared classroom computers, libraries and computer labs.
Protecting paper materials with lamination makes them easy to clean and helps to extend their usable lifespan and the world’s first fully-automatic desktop laminator – the GBC Foton 30 – is the ideal tool for educators; staff can simply load a job into the machine, press a button, walk away to complete other tasks, and come back when the job is done. Resources are protected, and valuable time is saved in an already busy day.
3. Don’t overlook air quality
Germs, bacteria and viruses don’t just spread via surfaces and supplies; in fact, much of the danger to your and your students’ health can be found in the air we breathe, day-to-day. Various studies have found links between indoor air pollution and serious health conditions and cognitive impairments including asthma, heart conditions, obesity, liver problems, behavioural issues and ADHD.
Letting in fresh air from outdoors sometimes helps, but may not always be an option in some buildings or areas. In schools located in highly populated or industrial areas, letting in air from outside can do more harm than good for indoor air pollution levels. The safest solution is to introduce an air purifier such as those in the Leitz TruSens range. TruSens’ larger purifiers use High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters to trap 99% of pollutants from the air, and UV-C light to destroy these pollutants before they get a chance to recirculate into the room.
The machine uses SensorPod technology to continuously monitor classroom air quality in the classroom and automatically adjust itself, meaning the teacher can simply set it and forget it. The SensorPod can be placed anywhere in the room to help ensure clean air is reaching even the furthest corners of the classroom and the placement of the machine itself doesn’t matter much either, as the TruSens uses 360-degree filtration to draw in air from all sides, regardless of where it is located. With room coverage of 70m2, the Z
-3000 is perfect for larger classrooms, while the smaller models in the range are excellent in reception areas and administrative offices.
Taking these small steps and precautions can go a long way towards helping to maintain health and safety in your school. Consider upgrading your classroom supplies to options that help promote overall wellbeing in order to make the learning environment safer and more productive for all.
To find out more about the impact air quality could be having on your school, come and chat to ACCO at EdExec LIVE SOUTH in London on 9th June 2022 or NORTH in Manchester on 6th October 2022. Book your tickets here!
To register your interest for free or discounted tickets email [email protected] quoting the subject line ‘I want to learn more at EdExecLIVE!’
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