It's In Your Hands

Why the 'It's in your hands' campaign

Deb UK is delighted to be certified participants of the 'It's in your hands' campaign, which is initiated and managed by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and the British Safety Industry Federation (Bsif).

As the world's leading away from home skincare systems company, Deb continually brings innovative skincare products and delivers customer health, safety and hygiene programmes enabling us to shape our environment based on the industry's requirements for skincare.

Our nationwide salesforce are able to provide skincare systems as well as educational training and material to a large number of employers and their employees to ensure that the risks of occupational dermatitis are known and adequate measures are in place to protect employees. That's why we are the supplier of choice for organisations who value employee and customer wellbeing.

Skin Care at Work

Occupational Dermatitis is a serious problem, the widespread effects of which are not commonly known or appreciated.

Firstly, it is a problem on a national scale. Government statistics show that more than half of all working time lost through industrial diseases is due to dermatitis and this costs the sufferers and country a great deal of money.

But occupational dermatitis is also a problem at a personal level. It looks and feels unpleasant. Many cases will result in an average of two months away from work and if it is not treated quickly and effectively, more serious long-term problems may develop.

Occupational Dermatitis can affect workers in many sectors:

• Automotive
• Construction
• Engineering
• Food Service
• Hairdressing
• Printing
• Utilities Workers

However, the great majority of cases need never happen. Effective and often simple means of prevention are readily available. When they are properly applied, the incidence of dermatitis can be strikingly reduced.

Not only is occupational dermatitis the most prevalent industrial disease, it is also the second most common type of occupational illness reported in the UK, often resulting from exposure to the many types of common irritants, substances and environments found in the workplace. It not only hinders workers' performance and productivity at work, but it also adversely affects their quality of life.

From reported cases diagnosed by specialist physicians it is estimated by the Health & Safety Executive that over 39,000 people in Great Britain suffer from work related skin disease. Over 3,900 reported new cases are diagnosed each year and approximately 80% of these are contact dermatitis. This results in around 4 million working days being lost to this condition.

We need to bear in mind that these are just the reported cases, it is widely accepted that these figures represent just the 'tip of the iceberg' as this type of disease is vastly under reported.

The manual skills and related occupations are among those with the highest rate of recorded incidence of contact dermatitis. Similarly, the types of industry with high incidence rates are shown to be in manufacturing and construction sectors.

All of this adds up to a massive cost in sickness, absence and retraining to UK employers of up to an estimated £59million per annum. Added to this, is the ever increasing litigation for personal compensation claims which in the last 10 years have increase threefold and are now reaching up to a £1/4 million for a single claim.

Every business can be affected, this is why it is important to recognise its seriousness and be prepared to counter the potential causes by implementing a Skin Care Management System

For a copy of Deb UK's 'SKIN CARE AT WORK - Preventing Dermatitis, A Manager's Guide' booklet also available on DVD and CD-ROM, please call 01773 596700 or email: enquiry@debgroup.com