We are now in the 7th year of implementing the Health and Safety Commission's 10 year occupational health strategy for Great Britain, and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is continuing to press home the advantages of reducing new incidents of occupational asthma (OA) cases by 30%. Along with improved education and more research, the main part of the strategy is to raise awareness among employers, workers and policy makers of the potential benefits from adopting measures to reduce OA. In a bid to highlight such incentives, the HSE commissioned academics to develop "the true cost of occupational asthma in Great Britain", a report which contains detailed estimates of the cost of OA to businesses. These could be as high as £96.3 million over the lifetime of workers diagnosed with the disease.
In similar news, it is believed that around 1,500 to 2,000 new cases of OA occur every year, a figure which could be easily reduced if well known preventive measures were put in place in workplaces where paint sprayers operate in motor vehicle bodyshops. Such paint contains chemicals called isoyanates, which when sprayed release a very high dangerous content into the air. This is the biggest cause of OA, and can rapidly develop if workers are not properly protected. The HSE hosted a free event in August, to highlight this issue, and to demonstrate how to control the risks and reduce the chances of contracting this serious disease.
