The intent of this provision is for all employees who are in contact with irritating or sensitizing materials to have proper protective clothing and equipment in order to avoid irritant dermatitis and the serious problem of sensitization to formaldehyde. Dermatitis in the textile and apparel industries is well documented, and formaldehyde is a well known sensitizer. The nature of skin disorders caused by handling textiles may be irritant or allergic dermatitis. Once sensitized, however, an employee will probably continue to react to small concentrations of formaldehyde for years. Dermal sensitization can severely limit a worker's ability to pursue employment and disrupt the worker's personal life since formaldehyde use in small amounts is pervasive in consumer products.
Sensitization is clearly a serious and material impairment of health.
Next, the medical records may need to be examined in order to verify whether the cases are due to irritant dermatitis or if they are occurring in workers who react to formaldehyde at especially low levels because of sensitization from previous exposure to formaldehyde. When dermatitis is the result of skin sensitization from previous exposure to formaldehyde then only those employees with the skin problems need to be protected. When the skin problems are the result of irritant dermatitis then, as a minimum, all employees who do the same job as the workers with the skin problems must be protected. If there are legitimate safety concerns in having all employees wear PPE, then the employer, as a minimum, needs to have a program for identifying high risk groups and investigating outbreaks of dermatitis. The employer, through experience, is in the best position to identify products that are likely to cause dermatitis in employees.