Employee complaining about air quality

[mattador78]

From the looks of it here I'm the only professional OHS person in this discussion with 30+ years of OSHA compliance experience and a ton of OSHA related training including an BS in Occupational Health & Safety. Do what you want but here's the thing, move him, pander to him, or forget him totally, regardless of what you do, you now know and from this point forward you can start facing potential US OSHA Egregious violations and penalties. All your person has to do is call 1-800-321-6742 (which you are by law required to provide him) and file a complaint and possibly claim imminent health hazard to initiate the OSHA inspection process, once that's done all bets are off and lack of positive action on your part can become a humbling experience.

I'm qualified for OHS in the UK air testing and proof of results lower than the WELS for the hazardous substances tested should be enough or they are in the UK to show you are monitoring and looking out for your staffs welfare, perhaps there are other chemistry you are using that are not standard tests. Are there risk assessments in place for chemical fumes? Also has this issue arose since the purchase of the fume hood could it be venting in anyway towards this person, perhaps a windflow from the vent back towards their workspace? As for the persons own sensitivity I agree that can be an issue so the ability to find a compromise such as movement it the office to be closer to a ventilation source or even a window, comes in principal under the ergonomics for that person. I have a son who has severe allergies so he is hyper-sensitive to the majority of things he comes into contact with ranging from causing a mild asthma attack to a full on anaphylaxis incident potential. He has had this since he was born and I have spent the last 15 years in and out of hospital with him on all sorts of treatments and regimes (hes basically the rung on the ladder below being a bubble boy) the standard rule I have been educated on is that everybody is allergic to about 15 things which can cause a severe reaction maybe he has come into contact with one of those Perhaps his the Doctors need to investigate more as well not just assume it is all down to the workplace. Going back to any Aircon you have in do you have service records and reports from anybody who has serviced the units.

 

[Jen Kirley]

Some people have sensitivity to formaldehyde, which although controlled in the U.S. still makes its way into our building via building materials produced offshore. Isocyanates in spray foam insulation (still widely used) and some other materials can also trigger breathing problems.

There are so many considerations, including sensitization which can explain a delay in symptoms from just these two examples. I agree you should have an IH professional come in and do testing.

 

[Dean Bell]

Do what you want but here's the thing, move him, pander to him, or forget him totally, regardless of what you do, you now know and from this point forward you can start facing potential US OSHA Egregious violations and penalties.

Randy is absolutely correct. I've been in an OHS role for nearly 20 years, and once an employee makes a health-related claim, you are obliged to take reasonable measures to identify and assess the risk. You do this by enlisting the services of a suitably trained and licenced professional, in this case an industrial hygienist or the like.

Whatever judgements you make about the employee as an individual are irrelevant. You need to treat the matter seriously, as the cost of inaction (i.e. regulator fines, workers compensation, lost productivity) vastly outweighs the short-term costs of getting professional advice.