Fragrance-Free Initiative From UC Boulder’s OIT

The Fragrance-Free Initiative from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) has created a video I really like,  and they have also put together some other resources that can be useful to learn from when creating fragrance-free policies.

The Fragrance-Free Initiative website also has a sidebar with these resources:

FAQ
Offenders/Alternatives
Resources

It may well be that for the people working there, the Offenders/Alternatives   section works brilliantly, but do keep in mind that it would need revisions to accommodate other people with MCS, MCAS/D,  or fragrance allergies.

The way they’ve listed the Offenders on their site from least to most ‘offensive’  will not  accurately reflect  truth for everyone who experiences adverse effects from the products.  I hope they remove the  category designations, since for some people, what is  most disabling, can be in the site’s ‘least offensive’  category, and no fragrance remain at arm’s length (as was stated somewhere), especially when the people using them move or have a breeze pass them.

Lists that categorize disability triggers like this are misleading and not helpful, except for individuals in specific  situations. While this list may work well for the current employee(s) in their offices, it will not work for others.

Also, the word ‘offensive‘ is a problematic substitution for the word ‘disabling’. It can trivialize the disabling health effects as it most often has an attitudinal or emotional connotation instead of a physically harmful one.

As for the suggested alternatives, they do offer quite a few brands and link to websites with helpful information regarding how to find safer products. It’s always good to have ideas of what to look or ask for. They also offer to help people locate substitutes, which is great if anyone has trouble!

It’s good to see more places recognizing the need and adopting these kinds of health and ability protective measures.

And it’s great to see this kind of creativity and fun with the video!

A safe and healthy workplace is beneficial to all!

Screenshot of the Fragrance-Free Initiative website