'Sick building syndrome' linked to job stress

'Sick building syndrome' may be linked to job stress and lack of support, rather than unhealthy surroundings, researchers have suggested.

Researchers from University College London questioned more than 4,000 civil servants aged between 42 and 62 working in different buildings across London. They were questioned about their health, the physical properties of their offices and the demands of their job.

'Sick building syndrome' describes a cluster of symptoms affecting the eyes, head, nose and throat and skin, all of which have been associated with the physical properties of office buildings.

The syndrome costs UK businesses millions of pounds every year in lost productivity and sickness absence, but research has so far failed to identify consistent associations between particular properties of buildings and the symptoms.

The researchers found that women tended to have higher rates of sick building syndrome than men - one in seven men, compared to one in five women - and symptom rates dropped with increasing age.

The researchers said that there was some suggestion that high levels of symptoms were associated with temperatures outside the recommended range, poor relative humidity, airborne bacteria and dust.

However, lower levels of symptoms were reported in buildings with poor air circulation and unacceptable levels of carbon dioxide, noise, fungus and volatile organic compounds.

The most significant factor associated with symptoms, the researchers said, was high job demands and low levels of support in the workplace.

The authors of the report suggested that the term sick building syndrome might be wrongly named. They said that higher levels of symptom reporting seemed to be "due less to poor physical conditions than to a working environment characterised by poor psychosocial conditions."

The authors suggested that when sick building symptoms came to light, managers should "consider causes beyond the physical design and operation of the workplace… to include the organisation of work roles and the autonomy of the workforce."

The research was published in 'Occupational and Environmental Medicine' in the British Medical Journal.

(KMcA/GB)