ASBESTOS & HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES
WHY THE COLD SHOULDER?
Helen Taylor, member of the BOHS discusses why occupational skin exposures are largely going unnoticed, and how we can start increasing awareness.
A recent Health & Safety Executive report states that skin cancer is one of the most common types of cancer. Statistics also show that the amount of dermatitis cases haven’t changed since 2005. These statistics beg the question - why aren’t we taking care of our skin?
UNDERSTANDING
THE PROBLEM Contact dermatitis is a clear example of what can happen if skin exposure is not taken seriously and treated with caution. Contact dermatitis occurs when the skin is damaged by irritants, such as chemicals, or as a result of weather and physical damage. The chemicals responsible for contact dermatitis are not just those labelled as hazardous but all chemicals, including water. In most cases, the skin damage will not be apparent on first contact but after many exposures to a variety of potent irritants the damage is more obvious.
This process occurs 24 hours a day and not just whilst the individual is at work. With repeated exposure over many days, weeks or months the skin can quickly become incapable of repairing the damage and as a result lead to life changing, even life threatening, health problems.
GETTING UNDER THE SKIN Skin exposures are typically ignored because the skin itself is seen as simply the outer covering of our bodies. It appears a more popular choice to identify and associate occupational health risks to other organs, where it is perhaps quicker to identify and assess long term health effects. It is a difficult process to understand at what level skin exposure becomes a problem, and no limit values are currently defined.
Setting values for when such skin exposures occur is extremely difficult due to the level of variability between
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individuals. As a result of this, no comprehensive information on how to prevent skin exposures in the workplace is available, and no professional training courses or qualifications cover the issue in any great capacity.
This has led to high levels of misunderstanding, as well as exposures being understated and significantly underreported.
“SKIN EXPOSURES ARE TYPICALLY
IGNORED BECAUSE SKIN IS SEEN AS THE OUTER COVERING OF OUR BODIES.”
Stress can affect the progression of skin problems and in some cases, can even be one of the most significant causative factors. Additionally skin disease sufferers are at greater risk of depression. In light of this, the industry needs to start taking skin exposures seriously and learn how to deal with them effectively.
WHAT TO DO If a skin allergy is suspected, a proper clinical diagnostic test is immediately required. Without this, it can be impossible to decide on the correct course of action, as irritant and allergic contact dermatitis can be similar in appearance.
A greater level of understanding of how the skin interacts with the world outside is also needed. Simply providing PPE without investigating and implementing engineering control measures is unacceptable. This does
not comply with regulations or provide long term prevention of ill health as the result of skin exposures. In some cases, wearing waterproof PPE can actually exacerbate skin problems rather then resolve issues.
Finding out more about the skin, what it does and how it does it is critical. Increasing such awareness will lead to skin exposures being more effectively managed in the workplace and raise awareness of the issue to co-workers. Make sure you do not fall into the pitfalls created by the apathy, lack of knowledge and misinformation surrounding issues concerning skin in the working environment, and act now to start making the much needed changes.
www.bohs.org www.tomorrowshs.com
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