How to improve the perceived health, comfort, and well-being of primary school teachers? A quantitative self-reported survey during the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland

Bain-Reguis, Natalie; Smith, Andrew; Hollins-Martin, Caroline; Currie, John

Abstract

Teachers are among the most stressed professionals, for whom the built environment has an influence. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the pressure on schools, where enhanced ventilation is deemed essential to help reduce virus-laden particles in classrooms. Good Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is required to maintain an adequate level of comfort, health, and well-being. Therefore, solutions to improve IAQ quickly and cheaply are essential. As such, the Scottish Government has funded Local Authorities to purchase CO2 sensors for school classrooms. This study explores two interventions designed to improve the quality of indoor air. The first one by raising the awareness of the teachers on ventilation strategies via a webinar. The second one by deploying devices that visually inform the occupants of the indoor conditions: Temperature, Relative Humidity, and CO2 levels in the classrooms. The novelty of this study is that it evaluated the influence of engaging teachers in the management of their working indoor environments. This paper presents the results of the perceived health, comfort, and well-being of teachers from two primary schools built before 1919 located in Edinburgh, Scotland. Visual feedback sensors improved the perceived air quality of teachers in their classrooms but increased pressure on their workload and were a potential distraction for their pupils. In contrast, raising the awareness of the teachers via the webinar improved their perception of their indoor environment without added pressure. Therefore, awareness programs should be devised to educate school staff on Indoor Air Quality in addition to the development of sensors with visual feedback.

Citation

Bain-Reguis, N., Smith, A., Hollins-Martin, C., & Currie, J. (2024). How to improve the perceived health, comfort, and well-being of primary school teachers? A quantitative self-reported survey during the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland. Science of the Total Environment, 957, Article 177808. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177808

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 26, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Nov 29, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024-12
• Deposit Date: Nov 29, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 29, 2024
• Print ISSN: 0048-9697
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 957
• Article Number: 177808
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177808
• Keywords: Perceived indoor air quality, Self-reported comfort, health and well-being, Teachers Primary schools' classrooms, Visual feedback sensors, Temperature, Relative humidity, Carbone dioxide