Occupational Asthma: The Quick Reference
Occupational Asthma: the whole thing in five minutes, for when you want the numbers and nothing else.
Asthma caused or worsened by substances inhaled at work.
Key takeaways
- Key pattern: symptoms improve away from work and return on return
- Common causes: flour, isocyanates, wood dust, latex, solder flux, animals
- Most useful single change: Tell your GP if symptoms improve on holiday and return at work.
- Commonest mistake: Continuing exposure while waiting for a diagnosis.
- See a doctor if any of the signs under "When to speak to a doctor" below apply to you.
The numbers, in one place
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Key pattern | symptoms improve away from work and return on return |
| Common causes | flour, isocyanates, wood dust, latex, solder flux, animals |
| Reportable | under RIDDOR by employers |
| Outcome | much better if exposure stops early |
In one paragraph
It is often reversible if the exposure stops early, and permanent if it continues, which makes recognising the pattern urgent.
Worth doing
- Tell your GP if symptoms improve on holiday and return at work
- Keep a peak flow diary covering work and non-work days
- Ask for occupational health and respiratory referral
- Report it to your employer; they have a legal duty to act
Worth avoiding
- Continuing exposure while waiting for a diagnosis
- Assuming adult-onset asthma is unrelated to work
- Relying on a reliever inhaler to keep working in the same environment
Where to go next
- Understanding Occupational Asthma: A Plain-English Explainer
- A Working Checklist for Occupational Asthma
- Occupational Asthma — the reference entry
- Noise at Work: What Published Guidance Supports
- Manual Handling: What Published Guidance Supports
When to speak to a doctor
Call 999 if a reliever inhaler is not helping, if you are too breathless to speak in full sentences, or if your lips look blue. See a GP promptly for new wheeze, cough or breathlessness that improves away from work — early removal from exposure substantially changes the long-term outcome.
Where this comes from
- Health and Safety Executive — occupational asthma
- Asthma + Lung UK — occupational asthma
How this page was put together
Every figure, recommendation and warning above is taken from the guidance named in Where this comes from. Nothing on this page is inferred, summarised or generalised beyond what those bodies publish: where they give a number, it is their number, and where they are silent, so are we. Pages are rebuilt whenever the underlying record changes. Sign-off by a named clinician, where it has happened, is shown at the top of the page along with the date.
Medical disclaimer
This article is general information, not medical advice. It cannot account for your own history, medication or circumstances. Always speak to a GP, pharmacist or another qualified health professional before making changes that affect your treatment, and never delay seeking medical advice because of something you have read here. In an emergency, call 999.
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