“Whiffs of change in the air for work world”
Edmonton Journal (Alberta) (01/30/06) Sarah O’Donnell
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=9ce4b738-d75c-41d9-9c9a-94d266a2e7e3&k=40478

Quote :

"New scent-free workplace policies in Canada are raising questions about how far co-workers should have to go to keep their colleagues safe. Co-workers’ use of products such as scented shampoo, body scrub, deodorant, perfume, and aftershave can present a health threat for some employees. “To somebody who is sensitive, you end up smelling like a chemical factory,” said Dr. Roy Fox, medical director of the Nova Scotia Environmental Health Center. Lorna Biddeson is one such allergy sufferer. Biddeson’s workplace became a scent-free zone after employers learned that the smell of perfume and certain deep-fried foods caused her to have a serious reaction. “I have only run into a couple of people who didn’t understand. They’d bring their food or wear perfume. They just didn’t understand until they saw me have an attack,” said Biddeson. The Alberta Human Rights and Citizen Commission has not yet heard a case based on scent sensitivities, but such a case would be treated like any other disability, said Marie Riddle, the commission’s director. “Under human rights legislation there would be no right to wear perfume. The right is that the person who has a disability has a right to be accommodated in the workplace, and that could mean that other workers have to make accommodations, too,” she said."

this strikes me as kind of ridiculous.

adding wheelchair ramps for handicapped workers? sure.
banning fried foods and perfume? come on.

at what point do we draw the line? how drastically should a group of people have to modify their behavior to accomadate the handicap of a few (or ONE) employee?

2/6/2006 11:53:12 AM

this strikes me as kind of ridiculous.

2/6/2006 11:55:45 AM

this strikes me as kind of ridiculous.

2/6/2006 11:58:13 AM

no more odiferous curries?

2/6/2006 12:12:05 PM

Quote :

"Lorna Biddeson is one such allergy sufferer. Biddeson’s workplace became a scent-free zone after employers learned that the smell of perfume and certain deep-fried foods caused her to have a serious reaction."

natural selection at work.

2/6/2006 12:13:42 PM

You know, if I was a big cologne-wearer, and some one asked me not to wear it to work because of an allergy, I'd kindly oblige.

But I'll be goddamned if I can't eat fried chicken at work.

2/6/2006 12:17:32 PM

nah man work with old women and youll understand.

their sense of smell gets immune to the perfume theyve been wearing for 52 years, so they spray until they can smell it. which is when the rest of us can practically see it.

some ppl have serious allergic reactions to chemicals in perfumes, theres a big legal argument to the effect of trade secret vs health risk, trying to get mfr's to reveal ingredients.

2/6/2006 12:18:21 PM

you people and your "smells"

2/6/2006 1:14:03 PM

This strikes me as incredibly needed. Obviousyl you've never been stuck in the cubicle next to the giant black woman wearing 50 different types of overpowering purfume. Or the giant mexican woman who doesn't wear deodorant for that matter...where's the "must wear deodorant" rule?

2/6/2006 1:17:04 PM

2/6/2006 1:22:34 PM

I had a teacher in high school who would give detention to anyone that would put lotion (or anything that smelled) on in or right before class. She was diehard about it, too.

2/6/2006 1:31:33 PM

I wouldn't mind strong perfumes being banned. A lot of women wear their perfume far too strongly for my tastes and it irritates my allergies.

I do think that banning anything scented may be going a bit too far.

2/6/2006 1:45:36 PM

grapehead, where are some of those arguments

2/6/2006 1:56:33 PM

We need a perfume ban where I work, not because of allergies, but because people dump that shit on like they've got Avon coming out of their faucets instead of water. There's one girl I work with who wears so much perfume that my hands smelled like her when I used her computer for fifteen minutes.

2/6/2006 3:52:59 PM

fuck this bullshit

quit your job if u dont like it

2/6/2006 3:56:03 PM

Couldn't she just be fitted with some kind of filtering inhalation piece? She may look ridiculous, but at least the coworkers can wear deodorant again...

2/6/2006 5:20:53 PM

yeah, perfume sux and makes me all stopped up BAN IT

2/6/2006 5:22:45 PM

^^ The deodorant thing sounds like something the reporter added, not the woman's actual allergy. I think she has attacks at perfume and certain fried foods.

If it puts someone's health at risk, perfume certainly isn't necessary. The company is probably well-advised to ask that employees not bring the foods that give the lady an attack to their desks. If your co-worker was so allergic to peanuts that trace amounts or the smell would send them into a potentially fatal attack, I think your workplace would have to ban them. Some elementary schools are now "peanut free" or have "peanut free tables" so that kids with peanut allergies can attend the school.

[Edited on February 6, 2006 at 5:27 PM. Reason : bagh]

2/6/2006 5:25:59 PM

lots of perfume bothers me more than smoking or anything else

2/6/2006 5:32:44 PM

Keep your phthalates the fuck away from me. Some of those scented hiegene products fuck up a person's hormones by mimicking testosterone within the body. This causes your balls to shrink.

Quit trying to shrink my balls, bitches!

2/6/2006 5:53:59 PM

Mmm..I can understand no perfume although I woudlnt like it personally.


No deodorant though? Fuck that, i'd quit.

2/6/2006 8:57:28 PM

Just another way they try a bullshit way to to protect themselves. Until the the Turrists hate Canada... we're fucked.

2/6/2006 9:10:04 PM

jesus

if you don't like the way someone smells... fucking complain about it.

either to the person or to that person's superior.

I've done it before with some bitch that was loud as hell on her telephone all the time.

2/6/2006 9:41:44 PM

well, i started to run the bullshit flag up when my sister told me that PB and J sandwichs are banned at my neice and nephew's school. but i was told about a kid at our church would go into anaphylactic shock at the smell of peanut butter.

If someone can't work at a place b/c their throat may close up and kill them, then i think people can go to work without perfume on.

2/6/2006 10:19:31 PM