Here are some commons signs your workplace may have mold.
Mold in the workplace is a serious issue. This harmful substance frequently causes illness among workers. In some cases, these employees are forced to miss time from work to recoup their health. Here’s what you need to know about this workplace hazard.
What is Mold?
Have you ever left a piece of food in your refrigerator for far too long? If so, you may have come back and found a strange substance growing on it. That is mold, and it presents itself in a lot more settings than your food at home. In a scientific sense, mold is a fungus that grows in damp places, and it could affect your workplace.
Signs That Your Workplace Might Have It
The easiest way to identify mold is by looking at it. It most often presents itself as brown, gray, and black splotches in various parts of a building. Unfortunately, this fungi might be lurking in areas that are not in your natural line of site. In this case, you will likely detect it through experiencing symptoms. Some of the most common include respiratory irritation, skin problems, nausea, dizziness, and fatigue. If you don’t feel right at work, talk to the people around you. If they are experiencing similar symptoms, it is time to bring in an expert.
Common Causes
As we mentioned above, mold likes to grow in damp environments. A workplace can provide one in the form of leaky pipes, flooding, plumbing issues, humidity, and any other factor that produces significant moisture. These issues can arise naturally, or they can be the result of negligent maintenance practices on the part of your employer.
What Your Company Should Do About It
Your employer has an obligation to keep you safe in the workplace. They should do so in the following ways.
- Letting you leave the environment so you can recoup.
- Bringing in an expert and getting the issue solved as quickly as possible.
- Improving management protocols to make sure that the mold does not come back.
Your Legal Options
No matter how negligent your employer is in mold management, it won’t matter much in your workers’ compensation proceedings. The reason is that this legal framework works on a “no-fault” system, where you can generally obtain benefits no matter what the circumstances surrounding your issues were. For minor cases of mold-related sickness, you may make a small claim. For ones that are more severe, your case will have higher stakes.
If you start to feel a bit sick, you should inform your employer. If they solve the issue quickly, you may not have a case for compensation. The reason is that you will not have incurred any expenses related to the mold problem. On the other hand, you might suffer severe consequences from mold growth at work. In this case, you should call a St. Louis workers compensation lawyer and fight for the benefits you deserve.