NEW WEBSITE TO HELP REDUCE OCCUPATIONAL ASTHMA

HSE press release E031:03 - 5 March 2003

A new website with advice on how to reduce occupational asthma, has been launched by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Aimed at employers, safety representatives and health professionals, the website is part of the Health and Safety Commission's (HSC) campaign to reduce occupational asthma by 30 per cent by 2010. It sets out:

• The main causes of occupational asthma;
  
• What it is like to get the disease;
  
• What employers have to do to protect their employees;
  
• What HSE and stakeholders are doing to tackle the problem.
  

Visitors to the site:http://www.hse.gov.uk/asthma can also view video clips, read case studies, download the plan of actions on occupational asthma agreed by HSC's asthma project board and advisory committee on toxic substances, and access guidance on the main causes of the disease.
Occupational asthma is the most frequently diagnosed respiratory disease in Great Britain, with between 1,500 and 3,000 people developing it every year.
John Thompson, head of HSE's chemicals and flammables policy division, said: "This website provides key information in helping to prevent and reduce instances of this debilitating disease.

"The website's contents will be regularly updated, starting with new guidance which will be published in October on isocyanates in motor vehicle repair, flour dust in craft bakeries and wood dust in woodworking, which are among the leading causes of the disease."

The costs to society of new cases of occupational asthma over the next ten years are estimated to be between £579 million and £1,159 million. Some sufferers cannot work again and others may have to change jobs to avoid exposure to the substance that caused the asthma. They may no longer be able to use their specialist skills or may face a restricted lifestyle.

Notes to editors

1. Occupational asthma is caused by workers breathing in substances at work, which produce a hypersensitive state in the airways. The symptoms include wheezing, coughing or shortness of breath. Once asthma has been induced, further exposure to the substance, even relatively low levels, may provoke an attack. These symptoms can develop immediately or several hours after exposure.

2. The total annual number of new cases of occupational asthma reported under the Surveillance of Work-related Occupational Respiratory Disease (SWORD) scheme has remained broadly constant for several years. Allowing for under-reporting, since many cases are not seen by an occupational chest physician, HSE estimates that there is a minimum of 1,500 new cases each year.

3. All substances likely to cause occupational asthma have to be controlled under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002 and the Approved Code of Practice Control of substances that cause occupational asthma published at Appendix 3 of COSHH 2002. Copies of Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (Fourth Edition) Approved Code of Practice and Guidance L5, ISBN 0 7176 2534 6 price £10.50, are available from HSE Books. HSE and local authorities give high priority to enforcing these Regulations.

4). Isocyanates, such as two-pack spray paints (used extensively in motor vehicle spray painting), flour dust, grain dust, wood dust, glutaraldehyde (a biocide and chemical disinfectant), solder fume, laboratory animals, resins and glues, and latex gloves, are the main causes of occupational asthma and account for around half of the total number of cases of the disease".

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