HSE Promotes Good Working Practices to Prevent Occupational Asthma
The British bakery industry throws up at least 100 new cases of occupational asthma each year. This is 80 times higher than the rate of occurrence of this disease seen in all the other industries taken together. To tackle the situation, the HSE has come out with an advisory to assist bakery workers in protecting themselves.
Flour, which may seem safe as compared to the toxic chemicals used in other industries, can cause painful respiratory conditions if adequate precautions are not taken, according to Steve Coldrick, Director of Disease Reduction at HSE. He stressed on the importance of good housekeeping to prevent the occurrence of occupational asthma among bakers. He also said that use of correct equipment and some changes in the methods of operating the bakery could go a long way in keeping the situation under check.
According to HSE, about 27 percent of the 100,000 bakery workers are day in and day out working with flour. This makes them vulnerable to the serious effects of flour inhalation.
The HSE is now sending out copies of a pocket card to all bakery workers. The card cites good working practices and gives suggestions to the workers to ensure that they can protect themselves from occupational asthma.
Minimising exposure to bakery dust and flour can help bring down the number of cases of occupational asthma, which creates problems like painful coughing and wheezing, the HSE says.
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