Is your workplace making your asthma worse?

Asthma can be triggered by many things both at work and away from work. Some clues that something at work is affecting your asthma are that your asthma gets worse soon after starting a new job or while you are doing a particular part of your job, or your asthma improves when you are not at work, e.g. on holiday or at the weekend.

Some of the most common New Zealand work place triggers are:
  • Isocyanate paints.
  • Foams and plastics, and the fumes given off during their manufacture.
  • Animal fur and protein from laboratories and veterinary clinics.
  • Flour and grain dusts from farms, granaries and bakeries.
  • Wood dusts.
  • Epoxy resins and other plastics from boat builders, mould manufacturers and plastic manufacturing processors.

     

If symptoms tend to arise closely after exposure, the person will often be very aware of the substance or area of the worksite which makes their problem worse. Symptoms may improve when the person isn’t at work.

Are you at risk of developing asthma at work?

Sometimes people who have had asthma before can develop asthma through an allergic reaction to a substance in the workplace. This may happen even after years of working safely with the substance. Sometimes the allergic reaction (and therefore symptoms) doesn’t develop until some hours after the exposure. It is therefore often difficult to identify the workplace as the cause.

Other people develop asthma for the first time in the workplace after heavy exposure to irritants of the breathing tubes, such as welding fumes or gaseous vapours like sulphur dioxide.

In New Zealand many substances or processes are recognised as causing asthma problems. The most common exposures include:

  • Working with chemicals such as those used in some paints and glues, foam manufacture etc, or expoxy resins. Common industries include spray painting and boat building.
  • Working with wood dusts. Problem dusts include western red cedar, rimu and some particle boards (building and joinery industries)
  • Being exposed to metal fumes or dusts (aluminium smelting, welding, etc)
  • Being exposed to dusts from organic sources such as flour, animals, insects, etc.

The prevalence of occupational asthma is higher in smokers.

What can you do if you suspect something at work is causing you to develop asthma or is making your asthma worse?


Talk about the problem with your doctor or the occupational health nurse if one visits yours workplace. The doctor will ask you to:
  • note what substances or processes you are exposed to in your work
  • note if your symptoms worsen during each shift or over a roster period
  • note if there is any improvement away from work
  • teach you how to measure and record a peak flow measurement. This measures how fast you can breathe out and tells you how wide your breathing tubes are. It is best dome four times a day for a two-week period. This period should cover time at work and time away from work.

If a workplace process or substance is causing or making your asthma worse, there are several steps that you can explore with your employer or lessen the problem. They are:

Elimination

Can the substance or process be changed for something less harmful? For example, one electronics firm eliminated soldering by riveting components to circuit boards.

Isolation

Can the substance or process be isolated to a special place in the worksite or time of day when most people will not be exposed? A manufacturer restricts its production of playground rubber mats to a period at the end of the day when most of the staff are off work. By the time the staff return the next day the fumes have gone.

Minimisation

Can the equipment be improved to reduce the exposure? A joinery factory improved its ventilation and extraction equipment to reduce dust levels. This is always a better method than relying on masks for protection.

What can you or your employer do if you are not sure if there is a problem at work?

The Occupational Safety and Health Service of the Department of Labour (OSH) can be contacted under "L" (Labour, Department of) in the telephone book for advice. They have the resources to provide information and advice about workplace hazards and the best (and most practicable) means of controlling these problems if the exist. Your union may also be able to offer help.

© Asthma and Respiratory Foundation of New Zealand (Inc.) 10/2000    Photocopy permission granted