Does any anyone have any experience with dealing with an employee that has been diagnosed with an allergy to mould spores? The employee works in an office environment with an openable window, there is no physical evidence of mould growth to the naked eye - or evidence in the environment that will promote mould growth, e.g. condensation, poor ventilation. We've carried out microbiological mould/yeast sampling in various rooms (at significant cost might I add) Most of the counts are very low (most are between 1-6, and deemed as not unusual. But some are between 100-200. The report states that if it may only be a problem if the count is the hundreds if not thousands, for non-allergic persons). The employee's medical consultant wants the mould count to be max of 1 before the employee can return to work. We've considered some controls (but cannot guarantee that it will reduce the count, or maintain a maximum of 1): - deep clean - installing a dehumidifier - installing mechanical ventilation - retest for mould Its quite frustrating as we, and the employee, wants to get back to work asap. Your experiences/suggestions are greatly welcome.

She/he may be "unsuitable" on medical grounds for the work. I would seek expert legal opinion - possibly having sight of medical notes. Jon

Thanks for your comments so far. To clarify, there is no air con, there are no evidence of water ingress in to the room. We may bring in a mould treatment specialist to survey and suggest options (even more cost). I'm reluctant as I do not think we have a problem - but we need to prove it before the employee can come back to work. Thanks..

then = them

Hi I would seek an independent medical report. You also need to establish if it is reasonable or even possible to attain this low level, as mould spores occur everywhere. Reduction of spore exposure would need to happen outside of work as well. I would suggest a meeting with the employee outside of the workplace to establish what the symptoms are, what steps they are taking and what steps they think you should be taking. You may find this link useful as background. http://www.allergyuk.org...ens/mould-allergy-advice Ian