It's 3:30 in the afternoon and I'm home. This morning I left for work with clear lungs and no coughing. Within minutes entering my work area the coughing began. By 11 AM I was having trouble concentrating, my eyes were irritated and my lungs were beginning to feel conjested and I began having trouble breathing. One of my co-workers also started coughing and she said she's been getting a headache almost daily for a month.
I went home for lunch but then back again the asthma really hit hard and I used my inhaler; despite this I began wheezing and that got worse. My toes and lips were tingly.
Throughout the day I noticed that in the hallway and little coffee area I could hear the building blower come on periodically but I never heard anything similar in our office area. Therefore, I think there is no air circulation and no outdoor air being mixed in. We are breathing whatever our lungs, the copiers and other office equipment and the furnishings emit.
I told my manager and then the president that I was leaving and why and said I did not plan to come in until the work area problem was solved. I'll call our Operations Manager tomorrow to discuss this further with him. I just can't work in an area that's causing me such severe physical problems.
This is scary. I don't know what my rights or options are, particularly if they don't find a cause or get it remedied.
Oh, I've been home for 1-3/4 hours and the asthma is gone and I'm no longer coughing and the conjestion is clearing up.
1 comment:
Scary. Can they have someone come in and test the air quality? Surely there should be some sort of protection under OSHA or something like it? Obviously I don't know what I'm talking about, but it seems as if there is definately something not right, extending beyond the run-of-the-mill "sick building" syndrome. Feel better!! ~~GreenTuna
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