Asthma is a condition that affects the airways of the lungs. In most people with asthma, the airways are always red and inflamed. These airways can react badly when you have a cold or other viral infection, or when you come into contact with an asthma trigger. Common asthma triggers include colds or flu, cigarette smoke and allergies to pollen, furry or feathery animals or house-dust mite. Asthma symptoms include coughing, wheezing, a tight chest and getting short of breath.

Occupational asthma

What is occupational asthma?

Some substances that you might come across at work can actually cause asthma. The condition can take weeks, months or even years to develop, depending on the person and the substance.

If you think your asthma has been caused by something at work, look out for these clues:

your asthma is worse during the working week, though not necessarily at work itself. Your symptoms may get worse after work, or you may find your sleep is disturbed during the night.
your symptoms improve when you have been away from work for several days or on holiday

Which substances cause occupational asthma?

Substances that can cause asthma are called respiratory sensitisers. Here is a list of some of the main ones and the jobs where you are most likely to come across them:
- chemicals called isocyanates are the most common cause of occupational asthma in the UK.

There are many jobs in which you might be exposed to these chemicals, particularly spray painting, foam moulding using adhesives, and making foundry cores and surface coatings

Industrial baking, farm work and grain transport
- wood dust, particularly from hard wood dusts and western red cedar
- dust from flour and grain

Carpentry, joinery and sawmilling
- colophony – this is widely present in soldering fumes but also in glues and some floor cleaners

Electronics industry
- dust from latex rubber

Any job involving latex gloves, such as nursing or dentistry
- dust from insects and animals, and from products containing them

Laboratory work, farm work or work with shellfish
There are over 200 other respiratory sensitisers and more are being identified all the time. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) publishes a list of the best known offenders. The list is not exhaustive and will be updated regularly.

How can I prevent occupational asthma?

You can prevent occupational asthma by avoiding exposure to respiratory sensitisers. To achieve this you should follow these steps:

try to get any respiratory sensitisers in your workplace removed or replaced with a safe alternative
if this isn't possible, your employer can reduce the risk by installing extractor fans or isolating you from the process that produces the risk – by putting dangerous chemicals in a fume cupboard, for example. These steps can reduce the respiratory sensitisers you breathe in.
if the above steps aren't possible, you should wear breathing equipment to stop you inhaling the respiratory sensitiser

Often a combination of all these steps will be needed.

Employer’s duties – Can a sufferer make a claim for compensation?

Your employer has a legal duty to deal with respiratory sensitisers in the workplace. This is set out in the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1994. Your employer should carry out a risk assessment and inform you if respiratory sensitisers are present. You should also be told how to recognise early signs of occupational asthma. If you are working with respiratory sensitisers, it is often necessary to have regular medical checks so the condition can be spotted early.

Can I get compensation if I develop occupational asthma?

If you develop asthma because of your work you should:

tell your GP that you think the asthma was caused by your work
tell your manager or safety officer and ask to record it in the workplace accident book

It is important to claim your benefit as soon as possible. Payments will probably only start from the day you claim, not the day that you found out you had asthma. If you want to take legal action against your employer, your lawyer must act within three years of diagnosis.

Is there a cure for occupational asthma?

No, but it is possible to prevent it if you or your doctor spot the symptoms early enough and you then avoid the respiratory sensitiser. If you have asthma already, you can control it by taking the right medication and avoiding your triggers. For more information see our booklets Take control of your asthma.

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