With more people returning to the office, managers need to remember the negative effects strong scents like perfume or cleaning products can have on some staff
Even after a few minutes in an enclosed space with very strong scents, Sweta Regmi gets the start of a crippling migraine. It can be perfumes, cleaning products or fabric softeners.of the Canadian population sensitive to environmental triggers such as scents, 5 per cent of whom suffer severe symptoms such as headaches, sore throat and sneezing.
Several human rights cases across Canada have established an employer’s obligation to address scent sensitivities in the workplace, and scent-free policies have become increasingly the norm over the past decade. “If I’m sitting there in a closed room for a couple of minutes and it’s really strong, I get the aura. I know I’m going to get [a migraine] … It all depends on how strong the smell is,” she says. “It’s still so hard for me to talk to people when they’re wearing so much… I did bring it up to the upper management and they were like, ‘Oh yeah, I feel the same.’”
Studies have found that about 70 per cent of people with asthma suffer symptoms upon exposure to perfumes. that a typical fragrance can contain between 100 and 350 ingredients, and the problem is not the smell, per se, but the chemicals that produce the smell. Even products that contain natural plant extracts can cause allergic reactions.to be proactive about providing a scent-free workplace.
While no statistics are readily available on the number of workplaces that have implemented such policies, under federal and provincial human rights legislation, employers are required to accommodate disabilities, Ms. Marrs points out. And she says some commissions have identified environmental sensitivities directly as a disability.
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