Removal of the patient from the workplace is a last resort due to the potential economic and personal consequences for the patient, even when there is workers compensation. If patients with occupational asthma leave work before adequate allergen identification occurs, it may mean no action will be taken to prevent the occupational hazard from reoccurring in the same individual or sensitising other employers in the same workplace. Adequate ventilation and good engineering are important in the wider preventive field of occupational health. There are statutory requirements for exposure levels of many workplace chemicals. However, some being possible allergens, workers with occupational asthma may be highly sensitised to small amounts of an allergen.
Occupational asthma is a notifiable disease in Western Australia and is compensable.
A worker with occupational asthma is entitled to vocational rehabilitation and income loss compensation. There is national mandatory reporting of occupational asthma. Forms are available from Asthma WA . Referral Respiratory and occupational health physicians can offer more complex diagnostic tests and possibly workplace interventions. Early referral improves the chances of identifying the causative agent.