Posted By Ken Taylor As reduced lung function is known and particularly if lung inflammation is present (and this is not always the case) it would seem advisable for the employee's doctor and the occupational health physician to be consulted as to their opinions. For my part, I would expect a greater need to seek to avoid respirable dust at work. The means of achieving this will depend upon your work processes as well as the fact that metal and wood dust are present. If respiratory protection is needed, this will need careful selection as filtering face pieces could present a problem for persons with breathing difficulty. Has EMAS anything to say on this?

Posted By David A Jones Depends on where you are based - I think there are about 20 EMAS offices located at major HSE offices. Contact info should be on HSE website, if not contact HSE Infoline (number on HSE website I think) and they should be able to assist

Posted By Merv Newman My wife has been recently diagnosed as suffering from sarcoidosis. Extreme fatigue, lack of breath, she could not walk, she had difficulty even talking. We had a pine tree outside our front door (see previous posting) which I cut down with my chain saw. We hope, hope, hope that we have eliminated the cause and wait for the next pollination season; during which my wife will wear a face mask. OK. We talk about accidents/illnesses that "happen" to our employees. What would you do - how hard would you try - how much would you insist - if it was your wife, your daughter, your son, who was at risk ? Me, I'm going to kick ass ! If necessary, I'm going to kill someone ! Risk assessment, anyone ? Merv Newman

Posted By Bob Baynes Julie, I suffered fron sarcoidosis some twenty-eight years ago. I had six months off work but the symptoms took three to four years to completely disappear. I didn't know then, and don't know now, exactly what causes it. I suspected in my case either excessive body contact around the chest area or dust from propriety filler I was using at the time to renovate badly damaged plaster in my house. I was told it can attack any organ or system in the body. My lungs and lymph nodes were affected but skin or even the nervous system can be attacked apparently. Though rare, I have known two other sufferers since then, one of whom had a recurrence many years later in life so bad that he is now retired ill-health with a lung capacity equal to someone with only one lung. I have been very careful to avoid dusts ever since, particularly any prolonged exposure. Given how you feel when you have got it I cannot understand anyone wishing to expose themselves to any risk of a repetition but I guess that is up to them. If you or anyone else can give me any information I would be grateful.

Posted By Julie P Many thanks to everyone who posted responses. It was interesting to hear from people with personal experience of the illness. As you all point out, the difficulty is that there is no known cause, and elimination of the trigger can be extremely difficult (needle in a haystack!). As such, it is proving incredibly difficult to obtain any firm advice on how best to protect our employee other than the usual course of trying to move him to as dust-free an environment as possible, looking to see if any improvements can be made to extraction and ventilation, provision of appropriate PPE (already all in place). Bob, I would imagine you have already tried the following places for advice, but I have contacted the British Lung Foundation (www.britishlungfoundation.com) and SILA (www.sarcoidosis.org.uk. Thanks again