Ban on workplace fragrances due to chemical sensitivity

SENSITIVITY to scents such as perfumes, air fresheners and smelly cleaning products is prompting bans on the products at schools, hospitals and other workplaces.

FRAGRANCES are on the nose with schools, hospitals and workplaces urged to ban perfume, air freshener and smelly cleaning products.

Research has found that three million Australian adults are “sensitive” to chemical products, leaving some with migraines, breathing difficulties, seizures and asthma attacks.

It has prompted calls to ban stinky products from offices, classrooms and hospitals around the country.

Among the products failing to pass the sniff test are fragrant cleaners, air fresheners and even sanitisers used in hospitals.

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But other whiffs that have become a worry include personal perfumes, hand lotion, hair spray and scented laundry products.

Melbourne University Professor of Civil Engineering Anne Steinemann said Australian businesses were increasingly turning their nose up at fragrant chemical products.

Perfumes, hand lotions, hair sprays and cleaning products can all affect people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

“Fragrance-free policies are gaining ground in Australia and being very positively received,” she said.

“It comes down to the fact that a person is more important than a product.

“These products can cause people to have a seizure, headaches, asthma attacks or other illnesses. It can be very serious.”

A 2011 Health Department guide warned Victorians hospitals that Multiple Chemical Sensitivity was a “debilitating condition” that could be trigged by food, drink, cleaning products or the aftershave and hair care of hospital staff.

It called for hospitals to draft policies for dealing with patients sensitive to chemical products.

Fragrance-free policies are common in the US, where Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is recognised in the Disability Act and workers have successfully launched lawsuits against their employers over their colleagues’ perfumes.

Liana hits the tissue after Poppy sprays hairspray and perfume. Picture: Tony Gough

A Detroit radio DJ won a $10.5 million case that centred on claims she was fired after complaints including about her colleagues’ perfume.

Disability Learning Management Solutions principal consultants Monica Leachy called for national building guidelines that control use of indoor fragrances.

“Where employees have complained and asked for fragrance-free options, they have often been branded a hyperchondriac,” she said.

“It is hard for them to get traction because there is not a lot of empathy for people who have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

“But the people who are sensitive are the canaries in the coal mines.

“Businesses who don’t pay attention to it could miss out — customers will shop online instead of in stores with deodourisers and they will miss out on good staff.”

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@moniquehore