Occupational asthma costs UK economy ‘billions’

A new report from the TUC has revealed that employers are losing billions of pounds in lost staff, lower productivity and high compensation payouts because they are failing to remove asthma-causing substances from the workplace.

There are over 150,000 people in the UK with occupational asthma, with a further 1,500 - 7,000 developing the condition due to their working environment. Indeed, recent research suggests that workplace exposure actually causes a third of all adult-onset asthma – with workers exposed to glues and resins, wood dust and latex most at risk of succumbing to the ailment.

The TUC report – carried out with support from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) – has found that only 8 per cent of employers were obeying the first step recommended by the code of practice, which is to substitute the asthma-causing substances with safer alternatives.

In particular, the NHS was singled out for “squandering tens of millions of pounds” due to the continued use of the disinfectant glutaraldehyde, and of the use of powdered latex gloves, ignoring the alternatives on offer.

Speaking in the TUC online bulletin “Risks”, TUC General Secretary John Monks stated: “Enough is enough. Asthma is simple to control in the workplace because unlike the things that cause asthma in children, employers can control what their workers are exposed to.

“Too many employers seem to think that asthma won’t cost them any money because the NHS will pay for treatment - but the NHS itself is an employer that loses millions by not controlling asthma at work, and they are currently part of the problem, not part of the solution. Employers need to wake up and stop their workers suffering needlessly.”

The findings of the report have now been presented to the first meeting of a HSE Project Board designed to oversee a programme of action designed to reduce rates of occupational asthma ahead of the introduction of a legally-binding code of practice on asthma in the summer. (CL)