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Prof. James Andrew Smith's Blog

Update to the Four Motions to Protect Staff, Students and Faculty

Posted on 7 January 2022

[March 20, 2022 update] A version of the N95 motion was brought before YorkU Senate in January 2022 by Senator Patrick Phillips. It appears to have passed but has not led to subsidized distribution of N95s on campus.

[Feb 2, 2022 update] The first motion (Recommendation for N95s) resulted in a recommendation email to all community members. The other three motions, while approved by Faculty Council, have been rejected by our Dean.

[Jan 14, 2022 update] The Lassonde Faculty Council heard the motions and approved each one: 87%, 86%, 72% and 84% for motions 1 to 4, respectively.

This is a January 2022 update to the motions which successfully passed in our EECS department in the Fall of 2021. These are meant to go before the Lassonde School of Engineering's Faculty Council (the inter-departmental governance body within YorkU's Engineering school).

Here are quick links to the four motions:

  1. Recommendations for Respirators
  2. Funding and distributing Respirators
  3. CO2 sensors on campus
  4. Air purifiers on campus

As well as more links to the background on these motions and references for these motions.

N95 respirator
The N95. All the cool kids call them "respirators". You can, too.

Hortative Motion 1: Recommendations for Respirators (Masks)

The Motion

The Lassonde Faculty Council hereby expresses its recommendation that all Lassonde community members (staff, faculty, students, and visitors)  wear only N95 (or equivalent or better) respirator (“mask”) PPE in indoor Lassonde-controlled facilities (including, but not limited to the Lassonde Engineering Building, the Bergeron Engineering Building, and Lassonde Research Centre) and that these respirators be worn at all times except when (1) changing respirators, or (2) eating and/or drinking, or (3) in a medical emergency, and that the removal of the respirators be as brief as possible and not be performed closer than 2m from any other person, masked or not, except if reasonably unavoidable (e.g. medical emergencies).  The recommendation applies within all rooms within the control of the Lassonde School, regardless of whether the occupant is alone or with others, what activity is being carried out within the room (except for the three activities specifically described), or the status of doors attached to the room. Faculty Council will publish and distribute this recommendation to all community members within two weeks of successful passing of this motion.

Rationale for Motion 1

COVID is airborne and the aerosols associated with COVID transmission “can stay suspended in the air for hours and travel long distances”. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfmmJnG7le8) With this in mind, to create policy that keeps the Lassonde School and wider York community members safe it is important to recognize that

  1. COVID-19 is widely acknowledged in the current scientific literature to have a significant mode of airborne (aerosol) transmission;
  2. an important body of peer-reviewed evidence demonstrates that N95 (or equivalent or better) respirators (masks) are a safer, more effective defence against the spread of COVID-19 than cloth or surgical (a.k.a. procedure) masks and that Public Health Agency of Canada is now explicitly not recommending certain types of face coverings like scarves, face shields, and bandanas;
  3. the Ontario Human Rights Commission has clarified, in Section 16 of its “COVID-19 and Ontario’s Human Rights Code – Questions and Answers” webpage, that organizations can require masking and can engage in verification of “Code-related accommodations” related to masking;
  4. a spokesperson from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities has clarified that post-secondary institutions may opt for stricter measures than it recommends (“…schools are able to institute their own, stricter rules.”); and
  5. YUFA called for the employer to supply appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) such as N95 or KN95 masks/respirators in paragraph 3 of its second motion (“Open Letter to President Rhonda Lenton on Return to Campus”), dated Sept 7, 2021.


Hortative Motion 2: Funding for Respirators (Masks)

N95 respirator
The N95. It's what we need.

The Motion

The Lassonde School (LSE) Faculty Council requests that the Lassonde School of Engineering’s Dean’s Office fund and distribute N95 (or equivalent or better) respirators (“masks”) to all community members at a rate of one mask per weekday per community member for the Winter 2022 semester, with the possibility of an extension if the pandemic continues.

Rationale for Motion 2

The following five points justify the need to provide high quality respirators to Lassonde School community members:

  1. that COVID-19 is widely acknowledged in the current scientific literature to have a significant mode of airborne (aerosol) transmission;
  2. that an important body of peer-reviewed evidence demonstrates that N95 (or equivalent or better) respirators (masks) are a safer, more effective defence against the spread of COVID-19 than cloth or surgical (a.k.a. procedure) masks and that that Public Health Agency of Canada is now explicitly not recommending certain types of face coverings like scarves, face shields and bandanas;
  3. that the Ontario Human Rights Commission has clarified, in Section 16 of its “COVID-19 and Ontario’s Human Rights Code – Questions and Answers” webpage, that organizations can require masking and can engage in verification of “Code-related accommodations” related to masking;
  4. that a spokesperson from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities has clarified that postsecondary institutions may opt for stricter measures than it recommends (“…schools are able to institute their own, stricter rules.”); and
  5. that YUFA called for the employer to supply appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) such as N95 or KN95 masks/respirators in paragraph 3 of its second motion (“Open Letter to President Rhonda Lenton on Return to Campus”), dated Sept 7, 2021.

The provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) is typically the responsibility of the employer.  Furthermore, the distribution and use of high quality PPE is an opportunity to educate our community members and to provide a positive, evidence-based example to the broader York community.

sensor gauge
Use air quality sensors (e.g. CO2) to measure the air around you.

Hortative Motion 3: Portable CO2 sensors to be supplied to Lassonde faculty and staff

The Motion

The Lassonde School (LSE) Faculty Council requests that the Lassonde School of Engineering’s Dean’s Office fund and distribute portable NDIR-based CO2 sensors (e.g. ARANET4, AirQ, IQAir, etc.) to all faculty and staff members for use in all offices, labs, and classrooms on campus being occupied and used by Lassonde School community members for the Winter 2022 semester, with the possibility of an extension if the pandemic continues.

Rationale for Motion 3

The following four points justify the need to provide portable CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) sensors to Lassonde School community members:

  1. that the state of air quality of the rooms on campus that we are expected to occupy is unknown to the general Lassonde and greater York communities;
  2. that COVID-19 is widely acknowledged in the current scientific literature to have a significant mode of airborne (aerosol) transmission;
  3. that NDIR-based sensors can act as a relatively accurate and inexpensive solution for gathering information on air quality in indoor settings related to COVID-19; and
  4. that a spokesperson from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities has clarified that postsecondary institutions may opt for stricter measures than it recommends (“…schools are able to institute their own, stricter rules.”)

Furthermore, the provision and broad use of air quality sensing in our work and learning environments is an opportunity to educate our community members on this important issue and to provide a positive, evidence-based example to the broader York community.

Air purifying with HEPA is good
HEPA air purifiers work.

Hortative Motion 4: Portable air purifiers to be supplied to Lassonde faculty and staff

The Motion

The Lassonde School (LSE) Faculty Council requests that the Lassonde School of Engineering’s Dean’s Office fund and distribute portable air purifiers units (e.g. HealthMate 400, MERV13 or better Corsi-Rosenthal boxes, Honeywell HEPA Insight, etc.) to all faculty and staff members for use in offices, labs, and classrooms for the Winter 2022 semester, with the possibility of an extension if the pandemic continues.

Rationale for Motion 4

The following four points justify the need to provide air purifiers  (e.g. HEPA) to Lassonde School community members:

  1. that the state of air quality of the rooms on campus that we are expected to occupy is unknown to the general Lassonde and greater York communities;
  2. that COVID-19 is widely acknowledged in the current scientific literature to have a significant mode of airborne (aerosol) transmission;
  3. that ventilation with fresh air and purification with portable HEPA filter units is considered by experts to be an important way to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in indoor settings; and
  4. that a spokesperson from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities has clarified that postsecondary institutions may opt for stricter measures than it recommends (“…schools are able to institute their own, stricter rules.”)

Beyond simply improving the state of air quality throughout our work and learning environments, the provision and broad use of air purification units (e.g. HEPA) is an opportunity to educate our community members on this important issue and to provide a positive, evidence-based example to the broader York community.

Appendix

Note on the January Update to the December Motions

These four motions were originally introduced in written form to Faculty Council for the December 2021 meeting. They were brought to Faculty Council as an outcome of a vote on hortative motions at the November 12, 2021 Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Departmental meeting.  However, because of a failure to achieve quorum at the Faculty Council meeting in December, James Smith requested that these motions be put before Faculty Council, once again, at its January meeting.

In the time since these motions were included in the December Faculty Council agenda both the urgency and the consensus position supporting these motions have grown.

The call to action in these motions parallels others in the medical, scientific and engineering communities.  One recent notable example of this is found in the British Medical Journal, dated January 3, 2022. (https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj.o1)  In this open letter, the authors make the points that

While vaccination greatly reduces risks of serious illness and death, long covid remains a concern.12 13 Disruption to education as a result of staff and student sickness, and/or repeated lockdowns due to failure to control the virus, are likely to have a lasting impact on the wellbeing and prospects of the next generation.14

and that

…a vaccines-plus approach should be adopted globally. This strategy will slow the emergence of new variants and ensure they exist in a low transmission background where they can be controlled by effective public health measures, while allowing everyone (including those clinically vulnerable) to go about their lives more freely.

The authors then advocate for, among other things:

[The promotion of] the use of high-quality face masks for indoor gatherings and other high-transmission settings. 

and

[The need to] go beyond opening windows and aim for a paradigm shift to ensure all public buildings are optimally designed, built, adapted, and utilised to maximise clean air for occupants—strategies which have been shown to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission

The motions above are very much in line with these recommendations. I ask that you all consider these motions as tangible, actionable and evidence-based means for improving the health and safety of our community members.

References for Hortative Motions 1 and 2

Point 1

  • Greenhalgh et al, “Ten scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2”, The

Lancet,    May         1,              2021        (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS01406736(21)00869-2/fulltext)

  • Summary                 of              Airborne                  Review

Studies: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1446874228188487684.html [last viewed Nov. 2, 2021]

Point 2

(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23413265/ )

                   Policy,                        University                       of                                 Minnesota: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-

perspective/2021/10/commentary-what-can-masks-do-part-1-science-behind-covid-19protection [last viewed Nov. 2, 2021]

Point 3

  • Ontario Human Rights Commission, “COVID-19 and Ontario’s Human Rights Code – Questions and Answers”, March 18, 2020; updated Oct 15, 2021; https://bit.ly/3q2C3f4 [last viewed Nov 2, 2021]

Point 4

Point 5

References for Hortative Motion 3

Point 1

Point 2

Point 3

 Point 4

References for Hortative Motion 4

Point 1

Point 2

  • Greenhalgh et al, “Ten scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2”,

The Lancet, May 1, 2021 (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-

6736(21)00869-2/fulltext) [last viewed Nov. 2, 2021]

  • Summary of Airborne Review Studies:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1446874228188487684.html [last viewed Nov. 2, 2021]

Point 3

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQg-JgUhlmU)  [last viewed Nov. 2, 2021]

  • Mousavi, Ehsan et al. “COVID-19 Outbreak and Hospital Air Quality: A Systematic Review of

Evidence on Air Filtration and Recirculation”, Environmental Science and Technology, 2021

(https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.0c03247)  [last viewed Nov. 2, 2021]

Point 4

a pen

James Andrew Smith is a Professional Engineer and Associate Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department of York University's Lassonde School, with degrees in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta and McGill University.  Previously a program director in biomedical engineering, his research background spans robotics, locomotion, human birth and engineering education. While on sabbatical in 2018-19 with his wife and kids he lived in Strasbourg, France and he taught at the INSA Strasbourg and Hochschule Karlsruhe and wrote about his personal and professional perspectives.  James is a proponent of using social media to advocate for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion as well as evidence-based applications of research in the public sphere. You can find him on Twitter. Originally from Québec City, he now lives in Toronto, Canada.   

Note: I am not an HVAC or PPE expert. While I have an engineering background (degrees in both EE and MecE) and have done work in Biomedical Engineering, I am not formally trained in either HVAC or PPE. If you're looking for professional design or testing advice or services, please hire a professional engineer who is an expert in the area of interest.

Conflicts of interest: none that I am aware of. I do not work for or have financial interest in any PPE or HVAC company. While I have communicated with companies and employees at PPE and HVAC companies, I do not work for any, nor have I received money or contracts from them. All products that I have received were paid for either personally or through my employer or were acquired through friends or family (none of which work for a PPE or HVAC company to my knowledge) -- none have been donated or loaned to me by manufacturers, suppliers or distributors.

Material on this page is licenced CC-BY (feel free to re-use and adapt!).