Rank: Forum user 
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Hello,
A colleague today complained to me that co-workers were triggering her asthma attacks with strong perfume and after-shave.
She wants to know what her rights are under legislation.
My initial thought is that this is not a HS issue (perfume and after-shave do not fall under EH40, after all), but an Occupational Health issue.
Any advice?
Robert
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Rank: Forum user
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tell her you are going to forward it to HR for them to deal with...
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Rank: Super forum user
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It’s not COSHH. I’d use the analogy of someone coming in with cold and infecting (possibly fellow workers); that does not come under COSHH unless this was a clinical situation and the person with the illness was a patient. So if you HAVE TO as part of your job deal with ill people (barrier nursing someone with Ebola?) then that is COSHH. Back to the original question: The employer has no control of what scents an employee chooses to wear. Will they sack someone for wearing after shave? Speaking of rights, the employees have the right to “smell nice”, the right to do so has to be balanced against the complainants rights. So basically this is not “elf and safety” at work but life. Do they expect the rest of the world not to wear perfume or aftershave? Finally are they really allergic or just not liking strong scents?
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Rank: Super forum user 
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IOSH are one of several employers signed up to Asthma UK's workplace charter which essentially means workers are asked not to wear perfume, aftershave, use perfumed soap etc at work.
Asthma is not a trivial condition. It is potentially life threatening and affects more than 4 million people in the UK. Asthma meets definition of disability within DDA. Careful now.
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 1 user thanked Ron Hunter for this useful post.
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Rank: Forum user
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I am completely sensitised to perfume & allergic to Limonene (so most cleaning products, air fresheners etc) - I even try to hold my breath as I dash down the laundry powder aisle for my non-perfumed product & I no longer accompany my niece into Lush & the Body Shop. The most I ask at work is that my colleagues don't spray themselves near me & I tend to use the disabled loo if there's lots of deodorant/perfume spraying happening in the ladies. These days, avoiding perfume is almost like trying to avoid fresh air - I know I can't avoid it completely so I treat my symptoms and live with it. Edited by user 06 July 2017 14:12:56(UTC)
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1 user thanked lorna for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Take a look at https://www.asthma.org.uk/advice/triggers/ This may help you to better understand how complex this issue is and how difficult it may be to ensure that you know the real cause. Chris
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Rank: Super forum user 
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This may or may not be "real" (in that perfume may or may not trigger an Asthma attack). When faced with cases where individuals claim "special consideration" for medical reasons, I have always sought supporting evidence. Ask them to bring in a Doctor's note (or note from their Asthma clinic) stating that this is the case. Better still, if you have access to Occ Health get them to deal with it. If this really is an issue, you may need to "isolate" them in a perfume free offce - rather than trying to interfere with everyone eles's choices. Although we can sympathise and try to help, we can't revolve our whole world around one person. IMHO.
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1 user thanked PIKEMAN for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user
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I agree with Pikeman. It would be helpful to establish whether this is a genuine medical reaction or merely psychosomatic. I had a case where a care worker, 58, atopic, developed breathing difficulties if she thought she was being exposed to natural rubber. She had been told that she was allergic to this. Actually she was sensitised to a protein in natural rubber products, but not allergic. She could handle natural rubber latex without a problem if she thought it was plastic. She would develop breathing difficulties when handling a piece of plastic if she thought it contained natural rubber. (According to an expert on this the diagnosis is undifferentiated, idiopathic, somatoform anaphylaxis!) Quoting from the Scented Products Education and Information Association of Canada document on the role of scented products in asthma and allergies: "Both allergic reactions and asthma can be aggravated by strong smells which can act as a non-specific irritant to the inflamed airways of the sufferer. However, what is an irritant or trigger for one person may not be for another, so it is essential to know which irritant and/or triggers create a problem for an individual and avoid them." Chris
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Rank: Super forum user
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Rank: Super forum user 
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I agree with some of the others this is more HR and OH than H&S - can you refer them to an OH specialist who can advise on the diagnosis and what this means in practical terms for you and the person concerned?
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