I am hoping that someone can offer me some advice. A few of the engineers are saying that they are noticing their hands are drying out, some have red spots on their hands and arms which they are all putting down to the coolant. The company swapped suppliers a year ago but the reactions only go back to the last 4-5 weeks. We obviously supply gloves, barrier creams etc. I have spoken to the supplier of the coolant and express a concern, they have said they have no reported skin reactions from any other companies that use their coolant. If it was just one or two engineers then I would put it down to personal reactions but it is now the majority of the workshop, the common demoninators are the coolant, soap, water and barrier cream. Any ideas on how I can investigate this further? Has anyone come across this issue before?

A starting point would be to ask for the safety data sheet for the coolant. Then assess exposure via the traditional 3 routes ie skin contact, inhalation, ingestion. By the sound of what you describe this could be (if real..........! sometimes people get a bee in their bonnet about nothing) due to skin exposure, and could be contact or allergic dermatitis. However - they should not be getting this on their skin, period. I would look at these issues. Hope this helps.

I assume here that we are talking about water mixed metalworking fluid and not neat oil. The most common skin reaction is irritant contact dermatitis due to the defatting effect of the emulsifiers in the fluid. The damage accumulates unseen until the skin finally breaks down. Depending upon the individual's skin this may never happen, may happen quickly or may only happen after many years. Usually with irritant contact dermatitis the cause is the repeated skin exposure to many different irritants (and this can be both at work and at home) resulting in an accumulation of sub-clinical damage. This will not show up in patch testing. Indeed, given the complexity of the causation there is no validated, practical test for irritant contact dermatitis, except that the dermatologist eliminates the possibility of an allergic reaction by patch testing. However, sub-clinical irritant damage can be detected using skin hydration measurement. This sub-clinical damage can also predispose to sensitisation and possibly to an allergic contact dermatitis. If anyone wants more on this PM me. Barrier creams will provide virtually no protection against these fluid and there are studies that show they can actually exacerbate the effect of the fluid on the skin. Angela - I am PMing you on this. Chris

Gloves are not always the answer as they can represent skin hazards as well as the risks arising from rotating machinery. If occlusive gloves are worn for more than two hours in total in an eight hour shift then this can, of its own, cause irritant contact dermatitis. Depending upon the nature of the dermatitis it may not be necessary to avoid all contact. If the reaction is irritant then it is generally possible to limit the exposure to the level where the cumulative effect is avoided, particularly if the skin care regimen, in particularly the use of moisturising lotions (note lotions not creams) is encouraged. If the response is allergic, the either complete avoidance of the fluid will be needed, or it might be possible to identify a coolant that does not contain the particular chemical to which that person is allergic. Chris

Is the coolant being used in the right manner? i.e. correct mix, is it "clean", is it full of bacteria etc. etc. Do you have a coolant monitoring system in place? If not why not, if so what doe it say, and is it adequate? It could be the "coolant" but not the original product being added to the water to make the mix. Have you machined any exotic materials recently?

Probably because someone at IOSH gets a perverse pleasure from seeing us all make idiots of oursleves :-)