Tag Archives: accommodation

The Canadian Human Rights Commission’s “Environmental sensitivity and scent-free policies”

The Canadian Human Rights Commission’s
Policy on Environmental Sensitivities
has been updated to add more on scent-free policies.

Image description: “Environmental sensitivity and scent-free policies” text on a blue background to the left, with a photo of a dark haired woman resting her chin on her hand, while looking wistfully (towards the title  text) out a window with rain drops on it, on the right side.

The new policy includes this:

“A scent-free policy is similar to other workplace policies such as
anti-harassment policies. It applies to all employees and is intended to guide
their conduct. If an employee does not comply with the policy, disciplinary
action can be taken.”

and this:

“If an employee with environmental sensitivities needs to leave because of a trigger, this person should not suffer negative impacts because of their disability
or their need for accommodation.”

 

Visit the CHRC website to download the PDF:
https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/eng/content/policy-environmental-sensitivities

 

Full text of the policy
(as copied from their PDF for people who have difficulties with PDFs):

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Can’t Ban Fragrances? Consider a Fragrance Free Zone

This article appears in The Job Accommodation Network’s
ENews: Volume 17, Issue 2, Second Quarter, 2019

JAN provides free, confidential technical assistance about job accommodations and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Can’t Ban Fragrances?
Consider a Fragrance Free Zone

Dig into developing a fragrance free zone

From the desk of Linda Carter Batiste, J.D., Principal Consultant/Legislative Specialist

Employees with fragrance sensitivity often need a fragrance free work environment to avoid triggering symptoms. However, it can be difficult to completely eliminate fragrances in some workplaces. Fragrance sensitivity can be triggered by not only perfumes and colognes, but also in some cases by personal products such as deodorant, shampoo, laundry detergent, and lotion. In workplaces with a lot of employees or in which the public has access, trying to control what products people use and enforcing a total fragrance ban can be virtually impossible. So what else can be done? Continue reading

There Is No Right to Wear Fragranced Products

“there is no right to wear fragranced products”

Accommodation for Environmental Sensitivities: Legal Perspective
2007 Canadian Human Rights Commission

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PSAC Video About MCS

 

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has created a video about MCS and job accommodation featuring Dr John Molot.

Dr Molot PSAC MCS video

Video: Demystifying Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

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Industrial Engineering Students Learn That EHS is a Functional Impairment… and More About Wireless

This presentation by Professor Olle Johansson about the biological and health effects of  electromagnetic pollution was given to a group of Industrial Engineering students in Barcelona, Spain and was recorded in October 2015. We are fortunate to be able to have access to easy to understand scientific presentations of this caliber.

Pr Olle Johansson presentation

Professor  Johansson, from the Neuroscience department at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, starts by saying the first problem is that they have no women in the class and then discussed how EHS is recognized as a functional impairment in Sweden, and how the environment must be modified to accommodate and include people with a functional impairment. (His recently published paper on the subject is also available below). He went on to describe other issues with wireless radiation and encouraged the class to come up with solutions.

I think it’s worth taking the time to watch, but I like learning about the things that are affecting our lives, and what we can and have to do now and to protect future generations, so that they have a chance at more than mere survival.

Adverse health effects of modern electromagnetic fields from wireless telecommunication, such as mobile phones and WiFi

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It’s Only A Little Fragrance

How many times have we heard it’s “only a little fragrance”?

Telling a person with MCS/ES that there is “only a little fragrance”

is like

telling someone with Celiac Disease that there’s “only a little gluten”

or

 telling someone with a peanut allergy that there’s “only a little peanut”

or

telling someone who uses a wheelchair that there are “only a few steps”.

It’s not ok.

telling 103It’s NOT ok.

Individual images follow: Continue reading

MCS/ES Accommodation Resources

When people develop MCS/ES, it can be extremely challenging maintaining access to jobs, housing, or other services due to the prevalence of indoor air pollution and pollutants, fragrance chemicals being a huge factor. When MCS/ES becomes disabling, it becomes a human rights issue requiring accommodation under the law in many places around the world.

Here then are some accessibility tools:

In the presentation from ADA Audio Conferencing – A program of the ADA National Network

One important point made was this:

MCS ES fragrance free policy

For people with EHS, a wireless-free policy is required, as well as other accommodations mentioned in the presentation.

Here are a few of the slides from Accommodating Persons with Environmental Sensitivities: Challenges and Solutions (which is available to download from the link below):

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