The sun might be out, but unfortunately, so is the pollen. For those of us who suffer from hay fever, the summer months can feel like fighting a losing battle, armed only with antihistamines and nasal spray.
According to research, 49% of people suffer from hay fever symptoms. And at work, hay fever can mean that productivity reduces to a crawl. Here’s how allergy sufferers can prepare for difficult working environments, and business owners can ensure that they don’t have to.
Why hay fever ruins your summer…
Hay fever, or allergic rhinitis, is where a person has an allergic reaction to pollen, dust, mould or animal hair. This results in cold and flu-like symptoms, such as streaming and itching eyes, running, blocked or itching nose, and blocked sinuses. In cases where a person’s sinuses are blocked, this can result in headaches, toothaches and jaw aches, as well as pain, swelling and tenderness around the cheeks, eyes and forehead.
Unlike a cold or a flu, these symptoms can last between weeks to months, depending on the kind of pollen that a person is allergic to. For the majority of people, this happens over summer, between June and September; but some people do suffer from hay fever in the spring, autumn and winter too.
There is no cure for hay fever, and it cannot be prevented. Hay fever sufferers try to avoid going outside, and opening windows and doors when their allergies are particularly bad.
…and also ruins your workplace
When you’re struggling with hay fever, work can be particularly tricky. Leaving the house to go to work in an office can be enough to trigger the symptoms, and offices in summer without air conditioning often need to have the windows open for the health and safety of their employees.
Working when symptoms are particularly bad can be tricky at best, and downright impossible at worst. Just like when you have a cold or flu, hay fever affects your executive functioning and cognitive abilities. This can make meetings, work tasks and projects difficult to complete. You might notice your employees that have hay fever find it harder to meet deadlines, manage their work and time effectively, be less attentive and less patient than they typically are.
How businesses can help
Although hay fever can’t be avoided, there are steps that businesses can take to make the summer months a little easier on their employees. For employees struggling with hayfever, requesting these small changes from your managers can help make the summer less stressful.
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Allow staff to work from home
When the pollen count is especially high, it’s often best for hay fever sufferers to work from home, where they can be in complete control of their environment. Including hay fever in your work from home policy means that employees can get on with their work, rather than struggling in the office. -
Get jackets out of the office
When it isn’t possible for staff to work from home, you should ensure that clothes like coats and jackets are kept in a separate area to your office spaces, or any spaces where staff are working. Outerwear can increase the amount of pollen in your workplace, so ideally they should be as far away from people as possible. -
Keep your spaces clean
Keeping your workspaces clean over the summer months can help hay fever sufferers. Ideally, use an anti-allergen vacuum with a high performance filter, which should help get rid of pollen on carpets. An air purifier with a HEPA filter can also help to remove pollen, dust and mould from the air. -
Give out a few more uniforms
One of the ways that hayfever sufferers can try to manage their symptoms is by washing their clothes and showering every day. This prevents pollen from hanging about in their hair and their clothes. If your business requires a uniform, provide enough uniforms for employees to wear a clean set every working day, or relax the policy until the summer months are over.
Find out more about how to support your employees with allergies
