ucatt.info - Occupational asthma

Health and Safety

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There is no doubt that construction is one of the most dangerous industries in the UK. Every year dozens of people die on site, several thousands get injured or develop work-related health problems. This is why improving health and safety on construction sites plays a key role in UCATT's daily work and ongoing campaigns. We want employers to comply with the existing health and safety regulations, and we want workers to know their rights. Every worker also needs to have a good grasp of major workplace dangers so they can contribute to a better protection.

In the section Key Health and Safety Issues you find information about major health and safety issues such as:

information on workplace hazards
guidance on what each worker can do to prevent injuries and work-related ill health
legal developments and
information on and for safety reps.

You can also download the bi-monthly Health and Safety News bulletins which provide updates about ongoing developments and events.

News Archive

August, 2007

Key Health & Safety Issues

Thursday, 02 August 2007

Occupational asthma

Asthma is a distressing and potentially life threatening disease. Each year up to 3,000 people develop asthma following exposure to dangerous substances at work. This is a distressing figure, since almost all cases of occupational asthma could be prevented. 750,000 people with asthma find that substances at work worsen their condition.

Developing asthma following exposure at work is called ‘occupational asthma’. The substances causing asthma are called respiratory sensitisers' or asthmagens. Sensitisation can occur after weeks, months or even years of breathing in the harmful substances, depending on the person and the substance. If a lung becomes hypersensitive to a sensitiser, even low exposure to the substance can trigger an asthma attack. During an asthma attack, the airways of the lung become narrowed and cause an obstruction to the flow of air.

Substances known to cause asthma are

Wood dusts
Epoxy resins in some glues and resins
Isocyanates
Dust from latex rubber
Formaldehyde in some MDF (medium density fireboard)
Some paints and wood preservatives

Symptoms to watch for in yourself and the people you work with are coughing, wheezing, tightness of the chest, sneezing and runny nose as well as itchy and inflamed red eyes. The symptoms can show directly after the exposure but also several hours later, which makes it more difficult to establish a link with workplace activities.

Employers’ duties

According to the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) your employer is legally obliged to prevent or adequately control the exposure to sensitisers in your workplace.

Firstly, employers must inform, instruct and train employees who are likely to be exposed to respiratory sensitisers.

Secondly, employers must assess the risks that the exposure to the substances creates. If substances are in place, employers must prevent or adequately control the exposure by the following means:

Employers must attempt to stop using the sentisitisers altogether by replacing it with a different substance.
If this is not reasonably practicable, they have to segregate the work or totally enclose the process.
If not possible, they should partially enclose the process and provide local exhaust ventilation.
If after that adequate control still cannot be guaranteed, employees need to use respiratory protective equipment (RPE).

Often a combination of all these will need to be applied. Unless it is guaranteed that all risks are controlled, there also needs to be put in place a system of regular health surveillance.

If you are still worried, contact your UCATT health and safety rep or the UCATT office in your region.

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