FS13.4 Prevention of occupational hand eczema by skin‐care management – results of an intervention study

Abstract

Objectives: In the prevention of occupational contact dermatitis the usage of personal skin protection measures have a high priority, however there is a lack of intervention field studies to demonstrate its efficacy. Therefore we conducted a field study in a plant of the metal‐working industry and investigated the efficacy of an established skin protection programme.Methods: First, a professional dermatological appraisal of the current status and a skin‐protection analysis were carried out for 180 company employees, and a dermatological evaluation of each workplace from the aspect of prevention was conducted. Using the information obtained a skin protection programme for the whole company was devised and subsequently set up. The follow‐up examination was performed eight months later.Results: At the beginning of the study 26% of the employees were found to have skin problems related to the work they were doing. In 50% of the cases skin protection was never or only rarely used, with the right kind of skin protection almost never being applied. There was no skin protection programme in place meeting today’s professional dermatological requirements, or at the most there were just the first signs of one. After the programme had been set up and suitable instruction and information given there was a follow‐up observation period of eight months, during which several professional dermatological examinations of the employees were carried out and further instruction (individual prevention) was given. In the final examination only 8.7% of the employees were found to have work related skin problems.Conclusions: We could demonstrated that the occurrence of occupationally‐related hand eczema can be significantly reduced by setting up and providing instruction in a skin protection concept matched to the hazards the skin is exposed to at work. Additionally, valuable knowledge and experience were gained on implementing industrial skin protection programmes and performing intervention studies.