Confused about work situation.

[lindaolde]

Hi can anyone please advise me? A few months ago I had a severe asthma attack caused by actichlor at the ED where I work. Occupational health have advised that I must avoid it, however having just had a meeting with HR and my manager, they have given me the option to stay in ED and manage the risk of a reaction myself or to move to a ward where they rarely use the product. I am in a quandary as to where I stand legally now. My union rep has said that HR are passing the responsiblity onto me so that if I have another reaction they won’t be liable. I’m going to work in the main A&E over the weekend to see how it goes, instead of triage. Should I risk it or tell them I want to go to the ward now

[hypercat54]

Hi I want to leave a comment but am confused what actichlor is and what does ED stand for please? Are you in the UK? Every countries laws are different so you need to let us know where you are from before anyone can help. x

[lindaolde in reply to hypercat54]

Actichlor is a cleaning product used at Poole Hospital in the Emergency Department (A&E)

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador]

Hi your union is right in that they’re passing the buck onto you a little, but they are also allowing you to make the choice and hopefully will support whatever decision you make.

From their perspective they may be little they can do to help the situation save place you on a ward where actichlor use is limited. They have the responsibility to make reasonable adjustments for you, however they also have to look after everyone else ie patients. So unless there is an alternate product that you don’t react to that they can use to clean with (same properties etc) there is little they can do cause obviously the trolleys/bays need to be cleaned...

You now have the choice of stay and risk it or move elsewhere, whereas an unreasonable adjustment would be the choice of make do or be dismissed, or not cleaning anything.

Personally my choice would depend on the situation. If I had worked in those conditions for years with no issue, but got triggered into an attack from the cleaner (which hadn’t been changed) I’d probably risk it especially if it was a multi-trigger attack (fumes+hot temp+illness etc). If it was the sole cause and it had always caused a bit of an issue, I’d probably think about transferring to a ward where I could avoid it.

If the cleaner is relatively new it may be worth asking if they’d be willing to change back to one which didn’t trigger you... if you word it to something like ‘it triggered me, so could easily worsen someone having an asthma attack’ they might listen and be willing to make the change.

I hope that helps a bit x

[hypercat54]

Why not move to the main ward? Will this make a big difference in your workload or your pay? I wouldn't take the chance of being triggered again. What about asking your doctor what they think about it all? x

[Minushabens]

The law requires employers to make reasonable adjustments for people with serious health conditions. This has a very broad meaning, & is linked to the size & resources of the employer. Hence, the NHS would be expected to be very flexible.

As I see it (& I've had to make these sort of decisions, albeit in a much smaller organisation) they are offering you what they see as a reasonable adjustment; moving you to a similar post where the trigger isn't present. At face value, that seems a sensible approach. Your options now are really to accept or reject. If you are rejecting it, you probably need to be able to present them with an alternative.

Ultimately, your priority is your health. Unless there is a good reason why you don't want to move then perhaps it's your best bet? Otherwise, present them with what you want which puts the onus on them to decide if it's reasonable.

[asthmatim]

As a brittle asthma type 1 patient myself, I don't any hospitals should use and chemical cleaning products anymore as they are known to cause asthma attacks in patients with this disease and as a hospital they should be with draw. I can talk from a Australian prospective and said that 4 major hospitals trailed only using natural products like Orange oil , eucalyptus oil, and tea tree oil mix with water. They found that the amount of antibiotic resistance bacteria dropped to unexpected levels. I can't remember exactly the numbers but needless to say that they have continued not using chemical cleaning products anymore in these hospitals to see over a longer time if there are anymore improvements in the protection against germs. I will try to find the Medical journal article. I am in hospital at the moment with my brittle asthma so I can't get that at this time.

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador in reply to asthmatim]

Ooo interesting! The number of times I’ve had to leave the ward because they were cleaning is ridiculous, especially as it was the resp ward 🙄. If natural substances can do it for the same price and same result (if not better) then it’ll be really great!

I hope you start to feel better, and get your freedom soon x

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador in reply to EmmaF91]

I was thinking that even apart from health and safety for workers, if lindaolde is having problems as a staff member then what might this cleaning product be doing to a patient who is coming in with an asthma attack?! I wonder how widespread it is in different hospitals and if they should be reconsidering using it anyway - of course they have to clean but there is a balance. I have never so far noticed a strong cleaning smell in any A&Es and I've been a lot to various ones - wonder if most places use a less pungent one or I just got lucky?

Alternative options sound good though personally I'd still manage to react to several essential oils... I do hope lavender is not found to be good for cleaning or I'll have problems!

[asthmatim in reply to EmmaF91]

I what you need to do is lobby asthma UK and the NHS to at least looking into this as I have found many medical jourals that link asthma attacks to chemicals and on that basis alone they should be stopped. Otherwise one should start threatening legal action as it it is well documented.

[Js706]

I know I have similar issues on hospital placements and have to stay away from areas being cleaned if I’m struggling!

They’ve also made a note for me to not use those products in practical exams - either they are looking for an alternative or in the exam I can just verbalise where I would use it.

I think I would notice more of an issue when I’m in if not for the fact that I’m already struggling 😂 so I tend to not be able to get much worse! But I know once when I got to the ward before my bed had been cleaned I had to ask to be moved away while they did and needed a neb after