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Attention: industrial and health and safety correspondents

134 people develop asthma at work every week

Seven thousand people develop asthma because of their work every year, according to new TUC figures released today (Saturday) in Risks, the TUC’s online bulletin for safety reps. The TUC is today launching training courses for union workplace safety reps on how to use a new legally binding Code of Practice to prevent asthma in the workplace, ahead of World Asthma Day next Tuesday (7 May). Regional figures are below.

TUC General Secretary John Monks said:

'Asthma can be a debilitating and painful condition that really restricts people’s lives - and it can often mean they have to give up their career and their livelihood. Employers lose out too, because the people who get asthma at work tend to be highly skilled and costly to replace. Our training for workplace safety reps will help them work in partnership with their employers to remove or control the risks of asthma, creating healthier workers in healthier workplaces.'

Donna Covey, Chief Executive of the National Asthma Campaign said:

'The UK has one of the highest rates of asthma in the world. We are delighted that the TUC has launched these valuable training materials that will help reduce the level of occupational asthma. We would also like to see greater involvement from health professionals in identifying where new cases of adult asthma are occupational, as this is key in establishing what causes asthma and how it might be treated in the future. This will not only enhance the quality of life of people with asthma, but will also improve reporting and prevention of asthma in the workplace.'

Case studies

If the worst happens and people at work do develop occupational asthma, the impact can be awful for the victim, and pretty bad for their employer as two case studies show:

Christine Taylor was an endoscopy nurse at the Wigan and Leigh Health Services NHS Trust who developed asthma because of disinfectants containing glutaraldehyde and formaldehyde. By 1998, her breathlessness was so severe that she could not continue working, walk any real distance or visit the swimming baths with her grandchildren because of the chlorine in the air. Her union, UNISON, eventually secured compensation for her earlier this year of £160,000.

Mary Watkin was a school cook working at William Cowper School in Aston, for Birmingham City Council. She developed occupational asthma because of her contact with flour in an inadequately ventilated kitchen. She says: 'I used to be an active person, I loved dancing, but now I can’t even help around the house.' Her union, UNISON, secured compensation including back pay of £200,000.

Notes

Although most people with asthma lead full and active lives, the condition can be fatal - about 500 adults aged 16-65 die every year as a result of asthma (not just work-related asthma) - altogether there are about 3.7 million adults with asthma in Great Britain, of whom the TUC estimates over 10% have asthma caused by work (most of the 3.7 million adults with asthma first developed their symptoms as a child.

The main causes of asthma at work are: latex gloves, flour dust in bakeries, isocyanates used in painting and other processes, laboratory animals, solder fumes, wood dust, glutaraldehyde (used as a disinfectant), glues and resins. Workers most at risk of exposure include nurses, woodworkers and painters and lab technicians.

This summer, the Health and Safety Commission is introducing a new, legally binding Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) on the control of substances that cause occupational asthma, as an appendix to the new Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002. This will bring home to employers that the law requires them to ensure substances that cause occupational asthma are properly controlled.

TUC research shows that the number of people developing asthma because of exposure to substances at work is several times the official estimates of 1500-3000 a year (and many more people with existing asthmatic conditions suffer attacks because of their work). Broken down by region, the number of people developing occupational asthma every year is:

Notes to Editors:

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Contacts:

Media enquiries: Julie Crowley on 020 7467 1310/1248 or 07699 744115 (pager) or email media@tuc.org.uk

Other enquiries: Owen Tudor, TUC’s Senior Health and Safety specialist, on 07788 715261

Press release (800 words) issued 4 May 2002