Allergic to perfume in an open plan office

Irn_Bru_2

My boyfriend is bothered by the perfume of one of his colleagues at work. He's coming home from work and going to bed almost straight away because his headaches are so severe. It's been going on for months and he went to see his doctors and they've recommended that he moves to the other side of the office but that doesn't eliminate the problem because she still walks by him and they still have to talk to one another to do their work so they still come into contact. The only thing that the desk move does is make sure that the headaches are not as frequent.

He's not affected by all perfumes, but this one is particularly strong. I've met the woman myself and although it doesn't give me headache, I can tell that its particularly strong, and I know a few of his workmates have said similar.

What can he do? Although they work in the same office, they don't work directly on the same team and they're at about the same level in their respective teams. He doesn't want to cause too much of a fuss because this woman has been working there for some time, he's not particularly confrontational, and he loves his job since a promotion last year (apart from the headaches), but we're arguing because I want him to do something because there's no quality of life at the moment. The woman knows the effect that it has but doesn't seem to care, I think she's even been asked to stop wearing the perfume but she refuses to do so, and because it doesn't affect anyone else the same then its my boyfriend's word against hers. I think my boyfriend's got fed up with asking his manager for help and besides his manager has started ignoring him because his manager hasn't any idea how to sort this out.

Its so bad that my boyfriend even avoided the work's Xmas party last week because he didn't think it was worth getting a headache before the pints and shots!! If you're allergic to food, then you don't eat it. If you're allergic to washing powder then you get a different one. My boyfriend can't avoid the cause of his allergy though, and doesn't seem to have anyone inside his work who wants to / can do anything about this.

Is there a way to resolve this or is his only answer to quit??

elona

Might a nasal spray or something like that help?

Crime novels used to suggest officers at a crime scene used V**ks
in each nostril to cope with the smell.

dandelionclock30

What about him wearing his favourite aftershave especially round his neck and wrists. Then surely the smell of this will be stronger than the womans perfume so he wont be smelling her.
If he doesnt want to do this, he could get one of those car air freshener things and hang it near his desk.This will have the same effect.
At the end of the day the woman can wear what perfume she likes, so he has to deal with it or move on really.

theoretica

It depends on the cause of the reaction - adding more chemicals to the air might be no help at all. A decently fitting facemask on the otherhand might get the point across?

melanzana

Move to a job in the open air.

BO in an open office is bad too. So is the smell of someone's desk lunch, along with lots of other things.

It's life, and if he has a problem, it will not be solved until he moves.

Maybe if he has the cojones to say it to the perfume wearer, but then equal rights or something will come up.

It's not easy, it's not good, but it's life.

Here's a tip, like chopping onions... Place tissue in your nostrils, and you will never get onion weep! If he does that, he will never smell the perfume, but surely someone will notice his actions!

Sorry if I sound unsympathetic. It's just how it is these days.

melanzana

I note that OP is a newbie, and welcome!

Where is the newbie alert gone?

Just checking, as you do.

dickydonkin

I think she's even been asked to stop wearing the perfume
but she refuses to do so

I think my boyfriend's got fed up with asking his manager
for help

Its so bad that my boyfriend even avoided the work's Xmas party last week because he didn't think it was worth getting a headache

Too much thinking and not enough doing - have a look at melanzanas posts upthread and consider your options!

ERICS_MUM

he could wear one of those paper masks like the Japanese do to avoid their traffic fumes.

Personally if I were asked to stop wearing perfume in the office I would. Why should someone else suffer due to my vanity ?

[Deleted User]

melanzana wrote: »

I note that OP is a newbie, and welcome!

Where is the newbie alert gone?

Just checking, as you do.

Their account is over 2 years old and has posted a year ago, they're not a newbie by the forums standards.

LittleMax

How do you know it's the perfume that is causing the headaches? An employer does have to make reasonable adjustments if your health is affected by your workplace. This could be a solution such as working in a different office. They could ask all employees not to wear perfume at work, it is not a right to wear perfume, and there are some food and lab environments where use of strong perfumes is not permitted. But there would probably be a big backlash if they did do that, so I would want to be certain the cause was perfume before going down that route.

FBaby

I can really sympathise as strong perfumes also goes straight to my head and give me headaches. We had our top director who wore such perfume, we could follow her moves everywhere just from following the scent! Thankfully, she had her own office and did get better as the day went as she didn't tend to spray it again during the day.

As he written a diary of his headaches? I think that would help with HR if it comes to it. When they happen, where he was, where she was, at what time, how strong they were and how they affected him, ie. needed to take tablets, go home, couldn't finish a piece of work etc...