Rank: Forum user 
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Hi,
Ive been asked to purchase/rent kit to carry out air quality monitoring in a warehouse as one employee who has asthma is having issues when climbing the stairs on the mezzanine.
The warehouse does not store chemicals, is close to the motorway and they have a bay door open all of the time.
Has anyone else had to go to this extreme? Personally I think its over the top and he should go to his doctors but wanted to know if anyone had any advice on this.
Thanks
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Why would you think that the air quality is to blame? I would get them to see a Doctor, refer to your OH service if you have one. Air quality measurement would not be cheap, if you were to think of this there are standard air quality tests for air pollution especially from cars (you are near a motorway?) Examples are NOx, Hydrocarbons, SOx, PM10s. If no one else is complaining ( you can smell car exhaust gases without any meaurement!) I would not bother, unless you believe that this is a significant risk. Just because people think that they are being affected does not make it real.
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 1 user thanked PIKEMAN for this useful post.
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Rank: Forum user
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Be careful about going to full monitoring first. What if you do find a problem - are you now going to filter all the air coming in to the warehouse of the pollutants, whatever they are?
I would refer to occ health, with a specific question asking if this employee suffers from the same when ascending stairs of similar height outside of work. I suspect that it is the effort of climbing (all) stairs that is causing the asthma to come on, rather than just the stairs at work. That should lead you down a different road.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Air Quality concept and its monitoring and employer duties if any! is very much different to COSHH and other work related exposure agents such as asbestos , lead etc.
Yes, you have to verify that you do not have any excessive work related exposures in the warehouse, so check the air change rates and whether you have diesel engine Fork Lift Trucks / other vehicles in the warehouse and whether exhaust from these ) not on public roads have an impact on any air intake system such as ventilcation system in the warehouse.
What standards of air quality will you compare with & then judge whether air quality is OK or not when many cities exceed EU limits and some of the PM 2.5 and NOx emissions, specifically from diesel exhausts apparentlly have been causing thousands of pre-mature deaths in the population??
There is a comprehensive suite of information and data resources at the DEFRA webite:-
https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/air-pollution/
There has been a lot of publicity recently after General Elections were annonced on the the delay in publishing air pollution plan report.
http://www.itv.com/news/2017-04-24/government-criticised-over-air-pollution-plan/
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Rank: Super forum user
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....and failure by Boris Johnstone to publish a report commissioned on air quality in London when he was Mayor.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Have you considered air temp on the mezzanine level, as this can have an effect. It is bound to be warmer up there ? Perhaps take a seat up and see if hey recover after the exertion or if it remains a problem just being up there. Chris
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Rank: Forum user 
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Hi,
Might be worth just having a chat with the person initially (which you've probably done already) to find out what their triggers are and see if they have any concerns re how it's affecting their work and if it's worse at work. You could then look at an Occ.Health referral or just suggest they go back to their GP/Asthma nurse or both. If there is any perceived link then go through the monitoring process but from your inital post doesn't seem anything could be a trigger from the environment but can be something as basic as some-one squirting deoderant elsewhere in the workplace.
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Rank: Super forum user
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You need to find what triggers their asthma. Then you can see
if it might be present in the warehouse and what you can do (if anything) to
control it. Of course it could be something from the motorway or in the general
atmosphere. Note the doctor should be a specialist either in pulmonary medicine
or asthma or in occupational health etc.
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Rank: Super forum user
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As already stated you need to find out what is the trigger, there may already be a known as a smoker for instance... The symptoms of asthma are always worse at work or soon after work. It can agrivavated (in an already sensitised individual) by cold air or second hand cigarette smoke...but everyone is different.....the person may also feel nsal stuffyness and itching around the eys and nose and sneezing..
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