Asthma is a chronic condition that affects the small airways. These become sensitive, swollen and  sometimes filled with sticky secretions, making it hard to breath. As well as this, people with asthma can have acute symptoms that develop very rapidly - so-called asthma attacks.

Around 4.1 million adults in the UK suffer from asthma. Even though work may not cause their condition, 52% of sufferers say that work can aggravate it. Asthma at work is responsible for at least 18 million days' sickness absence each year and costs the UK more than £2 billion.

"Government, employers, individuals and healthcare professionals therefore need to work together to make workplaces safe and employees healthier," the charity Asthma UK told HSW.

Too many triggers

Because of the number of people with the condition, and the wide variety of things that can trigger an attack - everything from pollen, dust mites and animals to cold weather, exercise and anxiety - excluding people with asthma from working environments that might trigger attacks is impossible. It's also unlawful, since asthma counts as a disability under the Disability Discrimination Act.

But people whose asthma is triggered by animals, for example, are unlikely to want to work with them. Similarly, those sensitive to dust will seldom apply for work in bakeries, even with protective equipment.

Several factors commonly encountered at work can make someone's asthma worse. Apart from smoking, which should no longer be a workplace issue in the UK, asthma sufferers say that dust, stress, chemicals, and perfumes and air fresheners are most likely to cause problems.

So, while health and safety professionals can use  the  COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) Regulations to protect workers from exposure to occupational asthmagens, what's the best way to make sure the amount of aftershave someone wears to work or that bunch of pollen-laden flowers delivered for Valentine's Day doesn't trigger an asthma attack in one of their colleagues?

Principled answer

The answer, says Asthma UK, is for employers to follow the lead of organisations such as the Body Shop, Sainsbury's and the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health and adopt its workplace charter. Launched in 2006, the charter sets out nine basic principles.

Asthma UK used the charter to draw up guidelines to ensure its own offices are safe for asthma sufferers. The guidelines ask staff: not to wear perfume or aftershave at work; stick to unscented soaps, deodorants and hair products during the working day; and not to smoke immediately before coming into the office.

The guidelines also say that, while premises must be kept clean, cleaners should use only non-volatile cleaning products and unscented air fresheners.
Colleagues and first-aiders should also know what to do in the event of an asthma attack, the charter suggests.

The recommended steps for sufferers are as follows:

• use your blue inhaler
• sit up and loosen tight clothing
• if the attack does not improve, continue taking one puff of your reliever every minute for five minutes
• if after five minutes symptoms have not improved, call 999.

Eddy Wooler of Asthma UK told HSW: "Asthma attacks are serious. They can be fatal. Most fatal asthma attacks happen to adults and 90% of asthma deaths are preventable. People with asthma should think about telling their nearest first-aider and trusted employees about their asthma, what their triggers are and what to do if they have an asthma attack.

"It is important that information about what to do in case of a staff member having an asthma attack is made available, for example, by making sure Asthma UK's asthma attack cards are kept in every first-aid box."

If sufferers understand their own condition, and make their employers and colleagues aware of what might trigger an attack, managing asthma at work is far easier, says Asthma UK. "People with asthma are often sensitive to substances that are harmless to others," says the charity. "It would be impossible to protect all employees from all possible triggers, so we recommend that employees approach their managers to discuss what makes their asthma worse and when."