Cutaneous and respiratory symptoms among professional cleaners
Background
Occupational contact dermatitis is a very common disease.
It is the most prevalent occupational disease in many countries and constitutes up to 30% of all occupational diseases
for which compensation is payable [1]. Each year,1000
claims are reported in Ontario for contact dermatitis [2].
In a 2003 report from the UK, 39 000 people were suffering from a skin disease caused by their work and there are
an estimated 4300 new cases diagnosed each year with
237 000 days lost each year [3]. Despite published figures indicating the magnitude of the problem, occupational skin disease is still likely to be under-reported [4].
Professional cleaners maintain a tidy, clean working
environment, thus exposing them to a number of potential irritants and allergens. Contact dermatitis, especially
of the hands, has a high prevalence among workers in the
cleaning industry [1,5,6]. Hansen [6] studied 541 employees of a hospital cleaning department and found that
15% had occupational skin disease. Gawkrodgeret al.[5]
reported that 35% of women cleaners in hospital workers
surveyed reported skin problems and 12% specifically
had hand dermatitis. These findings indicate the need
for further investigation of the workplace factors affecting
skin symptoms in the cleaning population.