Ventilation is better, but your boss doesn’t have to do it. Why? Lawsuits.

SHORT VERSION: Ventilation can make a big dent in COVID spread, and doesn’t require individual compliance (works even if someone is a “denier”). But its currently too niche and we need to overcome a big legal issue.

As we are dealing with the second wave worldwide, my favorite aerosol twitter personality, Linsey Marr, recommends doubling down on an “all of the above” strategy.

And, many people who are worried about long-life aerosols are focusing on ventilation.

And ventilation IS a better strategy. It doesn’t require you to do anything special. In fact, hospital surgery rooms run their ventilation at about 5-10X a standard building. And that’s a big part of why they stay safe. The ventilation is as big of a deal as the masks in protecting hospital workers.

Lawsuits

So, what about ventilation at your workplace?

I have a friend, let’s call her Kim, and she works at a big company. She started asking around about ventilation at work because she wanted to know how good the building was. Well, they wouldn’t answer. And she’s a manager/higher-up.

Why wouldn’t the company disclose the ventilation? Well, like many things in America, it probably comes down to lawsuits probably. If the company tells you the ventilation, they can get sued if you rely on that. And if the company changes their ventilation on their own, that might also expose them to the claim that they knew the building had known risks.

Instead, this large company is following a prudent and legally safe strategy: do whatever the CDC (and also, OSHA) says. The CDC has (slowly) admitted the possibility of long-lived aerosols and the need for ventilation. But nothing is required.

This is my (admittedly) cynical take. Many bosses won’t do much because of lawsuits, lack of mandates, and also lack of clarity on exactly what to do. Maybe if the Biden administration promotes it or (better yet) helps fund it, it will catch on.

For now, I know of some schools that have increased ventilation a lot, and that’s good. But I’m not hopeful that this is widespread, not yet.

So, the only thing that essential workers can possibly choose for themselves is their mask protection. In case the ventilation is unknown or bad, like in break rooms, make sure your mask fits right or consider viral helmets.

PS. If you want to check your airflow, consider the “in the know” trend of keeping a CO2 monitor on you:

Details of how to run a CO2 ventilation measure (aimed at schools):