Communication | Scented Products and Smoking | Education | Employee Notification System | Specific Accommodations for Employees Who Have Environmental Sensitivities

The indoor environment in your workplace will be improved by addressing the following areas of concern.

General (For All Employees)

1.   Communication

Open two-way communication between management and staff is to be encouraged, and is essential if suitable accommodation is to be achieved.

• If the affected employee agrees, an employee’s request for accommodation of their environmental sensitivities should be supported by an awareness session with all other employees in the unit, in order to increase workplace understanding of this disability, and to help other employees recognize the difficulties, including hostility, ridicule and disbelief, that may be experienced by a person with environmental sensitivities. (For more information see section 3, Education.)

• Involve all employees, members of the joint occupational safety and health committee and the public health nurse (if available) in the learning process through publications, workshops, conferences, etc.

• An informal conflict resolution process should be made available to all employees with environmental sensitivities who need or request it, whether or not a formal complaint has been filed. Managers should inform all employees who request accommodation of the availability of this process.

2.   Scented Products and Smoking

In order to protect employees who have environmental sensitivities, the following steps should be taken:

• Establish and post a "no-scent" policy in the workplace.

• It is important to realize that many scented products contain volatile organic compounds, such as alcohol, formaldehyde and other chemicals. Scented products and other chemicals, including fabric softeners, even unscented ones, can trigger symptoms in persons who have environmental sensitivities, including those listed in Part 1: What Are Environmental Sensitivities? These reactions affect the health of employees and may prevent workplace access to members of this protected group, contrary to Canadian human rights laws.

• A "no-scent" policy includes: perfume, cologne, after-shave and scented personal care products such as deodorant, shampoos, hair products, cosmetics, soaps, laundry detergents, fabric softeners, etc. Encourage staff not to use scented products. Air smoke-laden and dry-cleaned clothing well before wearing. Avoid scented laundry detergents and all fabric softeners.

• If necessary, managers should discuss the issue of environmental sensitivities personally with individuals who continue to use scented products, making the workplace inaccessible to employees who have environmental sensitivities. In order to satisfy the legal duty to accommodate, managers should insist that such individuals discontinue using the offending products. Remember that not wearing scent is more than mere courtesy, but is based on the legal requirement to accommodate members of this protected group to the point of undue hardship. An employee who refuses to stop wearing perfume should be warned, and if the employee does not comply with the warning, disciplinary measures should follow. As with other forms of discrimination, employees should be encouraged to obey the law.

• Institute a non-smoking policy requiring smokers to remain at an appropriate distance (at least 30 metres) from building entrances, since it is known that contaminants near ground floor entrances are drawn into the building and circulated throughout the ventilation system due to the "stack effect". Environmental tobacco smoke has been found to be harmful to human health and may trigger reactions in employees who have environmental sensitivities.

3.   Education

Education is the key to prevention of environmental sensitivities. People at every level in the workplace must be educated on the needs and rights of persons with environmental sensitivities. The goal of these educational efforts is to avert stigma and prejudicial behaviours such as hostility and unwarranted criticism. Such behaviour often leads to isolation of employees with sensitivities. Their requests for accommodation may be regarded as unreasonable, or, at best, eccentric.

It is important to remember that although environmental sensitivities may be non-evident, they are required by law to be accommodated like any other disability.

Managers and others may deny accommodation because they cannot see this disability, and they do not understand it. Managers and others may attribute symptoms of environmental sensitivities to behavioural or psychological problems. A failure to educate staff, and to help remove the many barriers faced by employees with environmental sensitivities may have devastating consequences.

Failure to Educate Staff About the Barriers Faced by Employees with Environmental Sensitivities Can Lead To: Further exposure to irritants and sensitizers Worsening of condition Reduced productivity Poor performance ratings High medical and other expenses Financial difficulties Loss of employment Emotional stress, depression Suicide Litigation; disability insurance claims, worker's compensation claims and human rights complaints Increased prevalence of persons with environmental sensitivities

Managers have a duty to inform themselves of the laws governing the duty of accommodation owed to persons with environmental sensitivities. (See Part 2: What is Accommodation?)

All managers should receive training on appropriate accommodation of environmental sensitivities.

Educational efforts can help prevent discrimination against employees with environmental sensitivities.

Managers should:

• Distribute the Employee Awareness Kit that accompanies this Guide and other relevant publications to all staff.

• Arrange for conferences, workshops and informal discussions.

• Rely on educational resources such as self-help consumer groups, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Canadian Human Rights Commission and employee assistance programs. (See Resource List.)

• If an employee has indicated that he or she has environmental sensitivities, and if the employee agrees, arrange for an awareness session with other employees in the unit.

• Seek legal advice.

• Seek practical advice on accommodation issues from appropriate resource persons, such as self-help consumer groups, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) engineers, property managers and others.

In addition to taking the steps suggested above, managers can help prevent discrimination against employees who have environmental sensitivities through educational efforts, including:

• Distributing copies of relevant documentation to all staff, such as the Employee Awareness Kit that accompanies this Guide;

• Arranging for awareness sessions, conferences, notices and informal discussions on the subject of environmental sensitivities with emphasis on the legal duty to accommodate, using the resources identified in this document;

• Educating all staff on the importance of not using scented products in order to avoid employee reactions and to remove barriers to workplace access (see section 2, Scented Products and Smoking);

• Involving all employees, employee assistance programs, members of the joint occupational safety and health committee and a public health nurse (if available) in the learning process through workshops, conferences, etc.

4.   Employee Notification System and Registry

• ALL employees should be notified in advance by building management of construction, remodelling and cleaning activities, including the use of materials containing volatile organic compounds such as those found in paints, cleaning products, adhesives, solvents, ammonia, chlorine bleach, tar, pressed board, carpeting, wall coverings, carpet shampoo, floor waxes and pesticides. In the case of offices located in leased properties or facilities operated by a landlord or other third party, the implementation of this notification system will require the active participation and cooperation of the relevant building management.

• Conspicuous notices of building projects and maintenance activities should be posted at building entrances, where possible, with the cooperation of building management.

• An employee notification system, in conjunction with a confidential registry of individuals who have self-identified as having environmental sensitivities, should be implemented. This registry should be used solely for the purpose of providing notification of building events to the identified employees for occupational safety and health purposes, in accordance with the Privacy Act (Canada) or applicable provincial privacy legislation and the Occupational Safety and Health Policy published by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, or other applicable policies.

• A supervisor responsible for an employee who has environmental sensitivities must ensure that the employee is personally notified of cleaning or remodelling activities directly affecting the employee, in order to prevent injury and illness.

Some Educational Resources (see also Resource List) Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation 700 Montreal Road, Ottawa, ON K1A 0P7 Canada Canadian Human Rights Commission Discrimination Prevention Branch 344 Slater Street, 8th Floor Ottawa, ON K1A 1E1 Canada Self-help consumer groups

5.   Specific Accommodations for Employees
Who Have Environmental Sensitivities

• Employers should recognize that sensitivities vary significantly. What one individual who has environmental sensitivities tolerates, another may not. We should also recognize that the same individual's tolerances may vary from one day to the next depending on their exposure profile and history. It may happen that the kind of accommodation needed will be temporary or a one-time accommodation cost or arrangement. Although not every employee will need all of the accommodations suggested here, or other accommodations, management should provide the following general accommodations for employees who have environmental sensitivities, at the employee's request, without requiring a medical certificate:

Action Plan for Employees with Environmental Sensitivities Improve indoor air quality (see companion document, Accommodating Employees with Environmental Sensitivities: A Guide for Building Managers) Additional accommodations may include: suitable office location carpet-free office windows that open, if appropriate tolerable furniture, cleaning products and supplies low-EMF equipment or shields HEPA filter air cleaner Offer flexible work options

(a)	Managers should check with employees who have environmental sensitivities before permitting new substances in the workplace.
(b)	If possible, managers, in cooperation with building management, should consult with employees who have environmental sensitivities in an attempt to identify problematic irritants and to remove problems at their source.
(c)	Managers should assign employees who have environmental sensitivities to carpet-free offices if requested by the employee.
(d)	Managers should assign employees who have environmental sensitivities to a closed office or other suitable location that is located away from pollution sources such as photocopiers, fax machines, printers and vehicle exhaust.
(e)	Managers, in cooperation with building management, should provide a well-ventilated space, with sufficient fresh air. Managers should locate employees who have environmental sensitivities in offices near a window for natural light and ventilation, if appropriate to the needs of the individual employee. To the extent possible, managers should reassign windowless offices for non-employee uses.
(f)	Managers, in cooperation with building management, should provide tolerated furniture and supplies that have sufficiently off-gassed – usually at least two years old – if the individual requires this. The furniture should not be so old as to harbour dust or mould. Real wood or metal furniture are preferred choices.
(g)	Managers should provide suitable books and other documents – neither brand new, because of off-gassing from ink, paper or glue, nor too old, because of moulds, dust and mites. Mildewy files and books should be destroyed or stored off-site. Technology is available, such as microfiche or computer tape, to eliminate the need for long-term storage of paper documents.
(h)	Electronic non-polluting news services are available and, where possible, should be used as an alternative to storing newspapers (with inks that off-gas) in office spaces. If necessary, store newspapers, winter coats and boots in a ventilated central storage area or closet at or near the office entrance.
(i)	Managers and staff should avoid known allergens or triggers such as volatile organic compounds, pets, plants and chalk dust. Whiteboards and flipcharts should be used with tolerated water-based markers as an alternative to chalkboards.
(j)	Managers should not permit the use of cleaning products or office supplies that contain volatile organic compounds, such as glass cleaners, correction fluid and solvent-based markers. Instead, staff should use tolerated alternatives, including unscented, non-toxic cleaning products, unscented, water-based markers, and dry correction tape. Any repairs or cleaning of office equipment (such as fax machines, photocopiers or printers) requiring the use of solvent-based products should be done off-site.
(k)	Managers should provide low electromagnetic field (EMF) equipment, flat screens or grounded shields for computers, or a combination of these two solutions, if appropriate to the needs of the individual employee. Low-EMF monitors are becoming standard in the workplace, and as a result, prices for this type of equipment are falling. Alternatively, a laptop equipped with a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen and rechargeable batteries may be used to reduce exposure to EMFs. Laptops may also be equipped with grounded shields.
(l)	Managers should provide a portable air purifier equipped with a HEPA filter or other high-efficiency multi-stage filter and tolerated filtration materials, if appropriate to the needs of the individual employee. (Note that individual tolerances vary. For example, some individuals are unable to tolerate activated charcoal filters, but may tolerate cotton, paper, potassium permanganate, or a combination of these filtration media.)
(m)	Managers and staff should recognize that some foods and even food aromas can trigger health and emotional stresses for employees who have environmental sensitivities.
(n)	Managers should designate an employee and a back-up person who has learned the required emergency procedures for employees' reactions to allergens, if necessary.

How an Effective Self-Identification Registry Would Function An employee who has environmental sensitivities has self-identified and requested personal notification of building maintenance and renovation activities. She has been on vacation for several weeks and so has not received an e-mail notice that was sent to all employees informing them that solvent glues will be used to apply vinyl wall coverings throughout the building. On the day the employee is scheduled to return from vacation, remodelling will take place on the floor where her office is located. The day before the employee returns to work, her supervisor (or a person designated by the supervisor) telephones her at home to advise her of the remodelling activities. The employee and her supervisor then agree as to the best solution in the circumstances. For example, the employee could work at home for a few days to avoid illness. Better still, more tolerable construction and remodelling materials including low-VOC paints, or cellulose wallpaper and low-VOC glues could have been used in the first place.

Communication | Scented Products and Smoking | Education | Employee Notification System | Specific Accommodations for Employees with Environmental Sensitivities