Allergies and the Workplace: Your Job May Be the Last Place You Need to Be

People with allergies usually take precautions to avoid places that might worsen their condition. For instance, someone with hay fever probably won’t go to too many flower shows. But what about work? For many people with allergies, work can be the single worst place to be. The problem, of course, is that often you have no choice.

Allergies come in many forms and often what a person is allergic to is present in places where you might not expect them to be. If you do have an allergic conditions, take time to look around any worksite or potential worksite to scope out potential problems. What kind of potential problems exist for those with allergies?

Hospitals and other health care services should obviously be a concern to anyone suffering from allergies. Only not for the reason you might expect. It’s not really the germs and infections that someone with allergies needs to be concerned with; it’s the latex gloves. Especially powdered latex gloves. The ones that use powder can released over 15,000 times more allergens into the work area than unpowdered gloves. Lest you think you won’t be in trouble because you’re not working in a medical area, be aware that in a hospital especially many non-medical jobs require workers to wear latex gloves, including cafeteria workers. Although a tremendous effort to move away form powdered latex gloves has taken place, they are still around in abundance.

If you’ve just landed a job at a food processing factory and you suffer from allergies, you just may be making things worse. There are so many potential allergens at play in food processing plants that it would take an entire article just to list them. And that’s not even including the number of factories that use peanut products. Remember, an allergy to peanuts can actually be fatal; this isn’t just some casual health concern. And since so many products use peanuts, it’s not enough to stay away from a job at Planter’s or M&Ms. If you do suffer from an allergy to peanuts, be very careful in looking for a job in the food industry in any capacity.