Skin conservation
Work-related skin disease can affect people in a wide range of occupations. It can be caused or exacerbated through exposure to a physical, chemical or biological agent, mechanical force, or by wearing gloves for too long, resulting in excessive sweating and hyperhydration.
Occupational skin disease is usually caused by contact and it follows that, where there is no contact, there is no contact skin disease. Based on this premise, occupational skin disease is therefore preventable and is subject to the same risk management controls as other health and safety risks.
Skin conversation is a method of carefully managing the risk of skin problems through:
- Elimination or reduction of risk through good COSHH and Risk Assessment
- Good skin hygiene and care arrangements
- Employee awareness training
- Correct selection and use of gloves, including donning and doffing training
- Competent health surveillance and investigation
- Review of risk assessment.
| Example occupations | Examples of irritants | Examples of sensitisers |
| Agricultural workers | Artificial fertilisers, cleaning products, diesel, disinfectants, dust including soil and food products, gasoline, oils, pesticides, plants, solvents, wet-work. | Animal feeds, barley, cement, fungicides, germicidal products, oats; plants; pesticides, veterinary medications, wood dust, preservatives, wool. |
| Bakers | Acids; detergents; wet-work. | Ammonium persulphate, benzoyl peroxide, dyes, essential oils, enzymes, flavours; flour, some fruits. |
| Bartenders | Detergents, disinfectants, scale- removers,wet-work. | Formaldehyde, some fruits. |
| Beauticians (Nails) | Dusts, acetone, disinfectants. | Ethylmethacrylate, methylmethacrylate. |
| Butchers and abattoir workers | Acids and alkalis, detergents, waste products, wet-work. | Animal proteins, formaldehyde, latex rubber protein, nickel, sawdust. |
| Cabinet makers and carpenters | Detergents, glues, solvents, thinners, wood dust, wood preservatives. | Colophony, dyes, fungicides, glues, turpentine, varnishes, wood dust. |
| Carpet layers | Adhesives, dusts. | Adhesives, mites, fungus, animal waste. |
| Cleaners | Detergents, other cleaning products, solvents, wet-work. | Formaldehyde, germicidal agents. |
| Construction workers | Cement, dusts, solvents, sand, wet-work, building materials. | Cement, chromium, chromium compounds, cobalt, epoxy resins, nickel, resins, thiuram in gloves, wood dust. |
| Cooks and caterers | Acids and alkalis, bleaching agents, detergents, vegetable juices, wet-work. | Flavours (some types), formaldehyde, garlic, sodium metabisulphite, spices (some). |
| Dentists and dental technicians | Detergents, wet-work. | Dental impression material, disinfectants, eugenol, local anaesthetics (some), mercury, methacrylates, latex rubber free protein. |
| Doctors, nurses and others | Disinfectants, detergents, wet-work. | Latex gloves, some anaesthetics, antibiotics and antiseptics, phenothiazines, formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, liquid chloroxylenol. |
| Electricians | Fibre glass, soldering fluxes. | Epoxy resins, rubber, isocyanates, soldering fluxes, dusts. |
| Floor-layers | Solvents. | Cement; epoxy resins; house mites; wood; wood dust. |
| Florists and gardeners | Compost, fertilisers, pesticides, wet-work, soil, preservatives. | Plants, pesticides, insecticides. |
| Foundry workers | Dust, sand. | Chromium, cobalt, nickel, phenol/urea-formaldehyde resins. |
| Hairdressers | Bleaching agents, dyes, permanent wave solutions, shampoos, wet-work. | Dyes, nickel, persulphates, perfumes, latex rubber protein, amine based chemicals, including parphenylene diamine (ppd). |
| Hospital and care home workers | Detergents, disinfectants, wet-work. | Latex rubber protein, medicines. |
| Metal workers | Cutting oils /fluids, solvents, metal shavings/dusts. | Additives/preservatives in cutting fluids, chromium, nickel. |
| Mechanics | Cleaners, diesel, gasoline, greases, oils, solvents. | Chromium, epoxy resin, nickel. |
| Motor vehicle repairers | Aggressive hand cleaning products, fuels, oils, paints, solvents. | Chromium, cobalt, epoxy resins, nickel. |
| Painters | Aggressive hand cleaners, solvents, thinners, wallpaper adhesives including antibacterial/mould agents. | Turpentine, thinners, chromium, formaldehyde, epoxy products, polyester resins. |
| Photographic industry workers | Solvents, wet-work. | Chromium, colour developers, para-aminophenol, formaldehyde, hydroquinone; sodium metabisulphite. |
| Printers | Solvents. | Colophony, formaldehyde, metals in resins/inks, resins and hardeners, turpentine. |
| Rubber products workers | Solvents, talc, uncured rubber, zinc stearate. | Colophony, dyes, rubber conditioning chemicals, different amines and epoxy resins. |
| Veterinarians | Disinfectants, wet-work. | Some anaesthetics, antibiotics and antiseptics, chloroxylenol, formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, latex |
| Agents | Type of workers |
| Foods, spices, herbs | Cooks, food preparation workers, other kitchen workers |
| Food additives, e.g: Cinamic acid, benzaldehyde, benzoic acid, albumin | Cooks, food preparation workers, other kitchen workers, bakers and millers |
| Animal hair | Animal husbandry worker, veterinarians and nurses, laboratory workers |
| Latex proteins | Health care workers, animal husbandry workers, veterinarians, laboratory workers |
| Topical drugs | Health care workers, pharmaceutical workers |
| Disinfectants | Hairdressers, cleaners, kitchen staff |
| Resins | Construction workers, resin manufacturing, printers, nail technicians |
| Chemicals used in rubber production | Rubber processing workers |
| Agents | Type of workers |
| Foods, spices, herbs | Cooks, food preparation workers, other kitchen workers |
| Food additives, e.g: Cinamic acid, benzaldehyde, benzoic acid, albumin | Cooks, food preparation workers, other kitchen workers, bakers and millers |
| Animal hair | Animal husbandry worker, veterinarians and nurses, laboratory workers |
| Latex proteins | Health care workers, animal husbandry workers, veterinarians, laboratory workers |
| Topical drugs | Health care workers, pharmaceutical workers |
| Disinfectants | Hairdressers, cleaners, kitchen staff |
| Resins | Construction workers, resin manufacturing, printers, nail technicians |
| Chemicals used in rubber production | Rubber processing workers |
| Warning: H312: Harmful in contact with skin H315: Causes skin irritation H317: may cause an allergic skin reaction |
| Danger: H314: Causes severe skin burns and eye damage |
| Danger: H310: Fatal in contact with skin H311: Toxic in contact with skin |
| EUH066: Repeated exposure may cause skin dryness and cracking |
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Is health surveillance a legal requirement?
Skin surveillance is required under Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations or the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations where:
- The work is known to damage health in some particular way
- There are reliable ways of detecting the disease or condition
- It is reasonably likely that damage to health may occur under the particular conditions at work and
- Surveillance is likely to benefit the employee.
It should relate to the type and extent of exposure and be based on available knowledge of risks to health. Examples of where health surveillance is appropriate under the criteria of Regulation 11(2)(b) are:
- Where there have been previous cases of work-related ill health in the workforce/place
- Where there is a reliance on PPE, e.g. gloves or aprons as an exposure control measure
- Where there is evidence of ill health in jobs within the industry e.g. frequent or prolonged contact with water (termed wet-work), wearing gloves to protect against solvents.
Skin health surveillance is required where there is residual risk to health following the implementation of your safe system of work. Risk assessments should indicate the level of your risk and the need for additional control measures and personal protective equipment (PPE).
You may have risk of occupational skin disease if:
- Substances with associated H-Statements are being handled, or
- Substances with irritant or corrosive signs are being handled and
- Workers come into frequent contact with the hazardous substances on a daily basis,
- Workers’ hands come into frequent and repeated contact with water due to the work they do (e.g. more than 2 hours per day or more than 20 times per day),
- Workers’ hands come into frequent contact with plants, flowers or animal products.
