Feature
Issue No. 43 - October/November 2008
Asthma in the workplace
Asthma is one of the Australian Government’s top six health priorities, estimated to afflict one in nine adults and one in six children. In SA 300,000 people live with asthma.
Australian workplaces are impacted directly when the condition is poorly controlled or poorly managed. Of specific concern to employers responsible for safe work environments and rely on high productivity to sustain business success are:
• Employee absenteeism
• Caregiver absenteeism due to employees’ care of a child with asthma
• Lowered productivity due to sleep loss
• Incidences of work-aggravated asthma
• Incidences of occupational asthma.
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways and shortness of breath is but one symptom. The inflammation causes recurrent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing, particularly at night or in the early morning. The associated obstruction to airflow can be debilitating and even life threatening. In 2006, 402 Australians died of asthma, 45 in SA.
Controlling asthma - it can’t be cured - is not just a goal for the individual. Employers can and must play an active role in maintaining the best possible health and safest possible workplace for their employees. Almost 20 years ago, in 1992, the National Asthma Council estimated a total of 1,488,000 lost work days across Australia per year due to absenteeism and caregiver absenteeism combined. In 2003, restrictions i...
