Did you know that up to 50% of employees have allergies and/or asthma? And whether attributed to food or the environment, these conditions are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Dr. Carla Davis — president-elect of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI) — and host Wendy Fong discuss best practices for setting allergy and asthma accommodations across your organization. From establishing clear cleaning policies and emergency protocols to creating personalized action plans and comprehensive education strategies, learn how HR can work with everyone from senior leaders to facilities teams to keep the workplace safe, productive, and inclusive for all. This podcast is approved for .5 PDCs toward SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP recertification. Listen to the complete episode to get your activity ID at the end. ID expires June 1, 2026. Subscribe to HR Daily to get the latest episodes, expert insights, and additional resources delivered straight to your inbox: https://shrm.co/voegyz --- Explore SHRM’s all-new flagships. Content curated by experts. Created for you weekly. Each content journey features engaging podcasts, video, articles, and groundbreaking newsletters tailored to meet your unique needs in your organization and career. Learn More: https://shrm.co/coy63r
Did you know that up to 50% of employees have allergies and/or asthma? And whether attributed to food or the environment, these conditions are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Dr. Carla Davis — president-elect of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI) — and host Wendy Fong discuss best practices for setting allergy and asthma accommodations across your organization. From establishing clear cleaning policies and emergency protocols to creating personalized action plans and comprehensive education strategies, learn how HR can work with everyone from senior leaders to facilities teams to keep the workplace safe, productive, and inclusive for all.
This podcast is approved for .5 PDCs toward SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP recertification. Listen to the complete episode to get your activity ID at the end. ID expires June 1, 2026.
Subscribe to HR Daily to get the latest episodes, expert insights, and additional resources delivered straight to your inbox: https://shrm.co/voegyz
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Explore SHRM’s all-new flagships. Content curated by experts. Created for you weekly. Each content journey features engaging podcasts, video, articles, and groundbreaking newsletters tailored to meet your unique needs in your organization and career. Learn More: https://shrm.co/coy63r
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[00:00:00] Wendy Fong: Welcome to Honest hr. I'm your host, Wendy Fong. Today we're exploring allergies and asthma in the workplace to help HR pros like you prevent and manage potential emergencies. Joining us today is Dr. Carla Davis, President-Elect of the American Academy of Allergy, asthma and Immunology. Welcome to Honest HR Dr. Davis.
[00:00:30] Dr. Carla Davis: Thank you very much for having me.
[00:00:32] Wendy Fong: Of course. So could you give us an overview of how common allergies and asthma are in the workplace and why you think it's important for HR professionals, you know, our audience to address these conditions?
[00:00:46] Dr. Carla Davis: Ah, so allergies and asthma in the workplace are very common, and the estimates range anywhere from about 20% to 50% of.
People in the workplace actually having allergies, and or asthma, so. Wow. yeah. And food allergies are, are very common as well. adults, about 4% of adults will have, food allergies and, about 3% of children will have them. So, so we know that, An HR person will contact, someone in their environment, their workplace that is going to have allergies and asthma.
[00:01:32] Wendy Fong: That is very common. That's basically one in two people. And especially given this time of year, it's springtime. I know I'm experiencing just even common pollen allergies. and I know food allergies are becoming more, more prevalent as well. Like, I can talk from personal experience. My brother, he's allergic to dairy, seafood, nuts.
So I have to be very cognizant aware, of everything that he, consumes.
[00:02:05] Dr. Carla Davis: Wow. Yeah, it's, it is a, really big issue nowadays and, and I actually have asthma analogies myself. So, so we, also, you know, we know that for people with food allergies, if the pollen count is high, then sometimes that can actually cause, you know, more symptoms if it's like together.
So, so during the springtime is a really common time for people to experience those symptoms.
So you share some best practices for managing food allergies. I can imagine. As a HR professional, how do I approach this in the workplace, especially when dealing with shared spaces in the break rooms, when there's company events that I'm serving food, how can I.
HR ensure that it's a safe environment for those with allergies and asthma, and it's also inclu inclusive of everyone.
Yeah, that's a really important, goal is to make sure everyone feels comfortable in the workplace. And so, the food allergies and environmental allergies, are, a little bit different in terms of how, Workplace would handle them. So for food allergies, you really wanna make sure that, for the people who have those specific allergies, that those allergens are, are not going to, be in the places where they are. That's what I like to just say. So, so you remove the allergens and you could have a policy that says, you know, no, you know, peanut products here.
but. Additionally between like in common work areas when I have, cleaning solutions, which can, can where after someone has an allergen that they, you know, they definitely clean it. so, so either removal and prohibition of having the allergen in the workplace or very clear cleaning protocols, will, help.
sometimes, allergens, like for shellfish, like you mentioned, could be even airborne. And so in that case, you'd have to actually remove it. you wanna really have some, clear, emergency protocols, kinda education so that everybody's aware of what needs to be avoided. Not necessarily who has the allergy, becau, but, just what allergens can't be in this environment.
For environmental allergens, you wanna also make sure that, that you decrease the amount of allergens that are, in the environment. So dust, you wanna make sure you're dusting, clinging protocols, for cats and dogs. So pet allergens, either you wanna. Prohibit them or make sure that the person is not in the same space with them and have a lot of clear, ventilation.
So, so either hepa filters or natural ventilation to make sure people are not exposed. those things that for mold, you'd want to make sure that, that you, address, mold and, make sure that you have, not only cleaning protocols, but you're trying to prevent mold from being in the environment.
[00:05:14] Wendy Fong: Wow, that was a lot of really helpful information. So just to unpack that a little bit, so you mentioned there's two types, food and environmental. also when you had talked about the different allergies, I think severity of the allergies important to call out too, like when you're onboarding employees.
How severe is this allergy? Like if something is in the air, will they, will that trigger the allergy or is it they have to ingest it first in order to trigger the allergy and then to develop policies? You said around prevention, how to respond, you said like cleaning, air filters. And then you also mentioned, emergency preparedness.
Right. And have maybe having a policy around that as well.
[00:06:03] Dr. Carla Davis: Absolutely. All of those things are important. I do wanna just clarify that for most food allergens besides shellfish, and seafood, the, allergen, if somebody eats it in the environment, isn't airborne. So like for peanut butter or peanut, we know now that, that it's extremely, rare for someone to actually react if it's innate.
Air, but it can be on surfaces and so, and on cooking utensils, for environmental allergens, a little different. That can actually be, you know, airborne and then that, you know, their fragrances. I didn't mention that, that can be in the air. One of the, additional kind of strategy to deal with this is to have flexible work schedules.
So, so if someone, and also. Flexible work environments. So maybe someone who, always had a particular allergen, you know, the person who has the allergy can have an alternate space. You know, that's, a distance from that, allergen. So all of those are important, but you're right, severity is extremely important as well.
Is it mild? Is it severe? is it moderate? is important to know.
[00:07:19] Wendy Fong: Are you finding that this is a more of a common, like accommodation request? Do you think HR should approach it in that way with like other accommodations in the workplace?
[00:07:29] Dr. Carla Davis: Absolutely. food allergies, and asthma typically would fall under the, American Disabilities Act.
where those. Conditions, should be accommodated, for in the workplace. and so an HR office or employee should, should really, go ahead and, address it in a similar way, as other disabilities.
[00:07:57] Wendy Fong: Oh, that's really great to know. I didn't know it fell under the 88 Act. And that is even more helpful then for HR to take more initiative and be proactive on these different strategies that you mentioned.
[00:08:09] Dr. Carla Davis: Yes. I remember that when food allergy was not a disability and, and the community, decided to, you know, get it listed as a disability so that accommodations could be made in the workplace.
[00:08:24] Wendy Fong: I mean, I see this movement happening. It's very common in schools, with, I know with, my daughter in school.
All the schools have EpiPens now. Like you can't go to, you don't go to a school that doesn't have that in the school office to be prepared if there's some sort of allergy and they, and I don't know if people know what an EpiPen is, but if you have some sort of severe allergy, and you may not even have time to rush to.
The er, then it's, then you can get shot in a thigh with this medication that can help with the inflammation of the allergy.
[00:09:01] Dr. Carla Davis: Yeah. And I think that's a really important point. the, there're just mild allergies and then there's severe like anaphylaxis, which is a life-threatening allergic reaction.
And there's some, people who have, anaphylaxis to food. Typically the, injectable epinephrine or the EpiPen, is like adrenaline and, and it is, the. Best treatment for anaphylaxis. So if it's given immediately, then it can turn a life-threatening allergic reaction around. And, and so we know that training, employees on, you know, what are those symptoms of anaphylaxis and then.
empowering, someone in the workplace to be able to give that epinephrine and making sure that it's, available on a locked closet or a locked drawer, but that it's available to all, who are trained to give it, then that is really, very important, in the workplace and can save lives and it, has saved lives in schools as well.
[00:10:14] Wendy Fong: Oh wow. So that could be part of the emergency preparedness plan that you had mentioned. Yes. Similar to, it makes me think of like when you, have like a task force for emergency planning. You could also train employees on, you know, the fire escape routes, the CPR first aid training, and also how to use like the epipen.
[00:10:35] Dr. Carla Davis: Absolutely. Yes. it's very important for, people in the environment to know and to recognize, okay, this is not a mild, reaction, or this is just not, regular allergies. This is a life threatening condition and, we need to act and we know how to use the, epinephrine in order to turn this reaction around after using an in the workplace.
9 1 1 should be called the person should be transported to an emergency center, in order to get follow-up care. And whenever this happens in the workplace, it's always good to have a debriefing and, go through what is our protocol? Did it work according to plan? is, you know, does it still feel like, the workplace is safe for all and inclusive for all?
[00:11:30] Wendy Fong: What are some of the signs when an allergy has reached that point? To use the like symptoms and signs you could see in a person.
[00:11:39] Dr. Carla Davis: Yeah, that's a great question. if the person has any respiratory difficulty, so coughing, wheezing, having shortness of breath, that is a definite sign of, severe allergic reaction.
if the person has any, what we call cardio, vascular symptoms or heart, symptoms like fainting, or, you know, blue skin, you know, really, not. Having a, awareness of mind that, they're there. So we call it a change in mental status. Altered mental status where, they're just not there.
and they have had either a known exposure to something they're allergic to, or other symptoms along with it, like hives, vomiting. all of those things, can be symptoms now. Typically what we say is a severe allergic reaction, like anaphylaxis if two systems, body systems are involved. So, so if there's just a few hives, we don't consider that, severe.
We consider that mild. and if there's natal congestion alone, that would be something that would be mild. But if there, it's coughing again, respiratory symptoms or cardiovascular symptoms, or neurologic symptoms, then that's the time to. Break out that EpiPen or the, what I call injectable epinephrine.
'cause there, many, there's something called AVI acute or many different forms of, injectable epinephrine.
[00:13:15] Wendy Fong: Okay, that's good to know. Like, how quickly can a situation turn to be that severe? Like if someone, say for example, has allergic. Or an allergy to airborne shellfish, like an example you gave and their allergy was triggered, like how quickly can that situation escalate?
[00:13:37] Dr. Carla Davis: I would say within minutes it could escalate. Wow. I think that, it's, not gonna escalate so much that, you know, if someone were to act within 30 minutes, you know, that there's gonna be catastrophic consequences. But, but we know that the sooner. A person who's having a severe allergic reaction actually gets treated, can impact how that person does later on.
And there are, deaths from anaphylaxis that, that do occur and, but it's typically to drugs or food, not necessarily environmental allergens. and they know the, if. If the, injectable epinephrine is given sooner, after the reaction starts, then that will result in a better prognosis, better outcome later.
[00:14:29] Wendy Fong: To go back to your point about, air quality, we had touched on this a little bit. I feel like, you know, we can control contact on surfaces a little bit more what's being made in, food, but air seems a little more ambiguous, because we all breathe air and we don't know what we're around necessarily.
It's invisible. Do you have any like steps you can recommend organizations take to optimize air quality? Like for example, I know during, COVID I noticed several facilities installed, you know, stronger air filters or specific type of air filters, and what would you recommend?
[00:15:07] Dr. Carla Davis: Yeah, I definitely recommend the, hepa air filters.
We, we don't necessarily recommend air purifiers, because that, it doesn't necessarily remove allergens from, the environment. But, but definitely, air filters in the vents and making sure that they're changed, regularly at a nor when, you know, when they expire, which might be, you know.
After a month, then, really changing those, air filters and also making sure that, in places where there isn't really good ventilation that. You're able to, you know, open up windows or or doors in order to, make sure that, that there is good ventilation. If the allergen that a person is allergic to is an indoor allergen, like dust or mold, but if sometimes if it's pollen, then you wanna keep the doors closed, right?
So that, So, so I really think. Cleaning is a huge issue because, the dust in, in workplaces in carpet, can harbor dust mites. that is a particular, kind of allergen. We're really allergic to the dust mite extre. It's a microscopic bug. and, so if. Regular cleaning, of surfaces.
And, and, dusting is gonna be important in order to decrease the exposure to, to dust. So having regular cleaning protocols, with, you know, friendly cleansers, right? And, making sure that, things that cause a lot of fumes right, are not being utilized around people who also might be, have symptoms.
To those few fragrances or fumes from the cleaning protocols, is important. I think the main, issues is also a, after kind of putting those things in place, is making sure that, there is an individualized. Plan. So there's gonna be, a comprehensive overall plan for the environment, but then, you also want to make sure that individual employees and their personalized, needs are impacted or are, you know, are, addressed, I should say.
because, nasal congestion from allergic rhinitis. Or wheezing from, coughing, or headaches from sinus pressure can all minimize workplace productivity. So it's, it is important to, to really address those, concerns when employees bring them up.
[00:17:54] Wendy Fong: Are you finding that buildings have sufficient enough ventilation or typically organizations have to purchase these additional like HEPA filters to help.
[00:18:10] Dr. Carla Davis: The age of the building. So, buildings that are older, will likely have more, collection of dust in the, vents. And, and so, some, sometimes, you know, there needs to be more of a cleaning, in, older facilities, of the, air vents kind of before kinda getting those new filters.
But in newer facilities, it's not, as long as there's maintenance, it's not as much of an issue. And so really, in my experience has depended upon the age of the facility. Mold. Yeah. And in warm climates, mold, can be a concern, especially in humid areas, in older facilities as well. 'cause sometimes the mold is difficult to, to get out of some surfaces.
[00:19:01] Wendy Fong: And the humidity. Yeah, that's great to point out. and I love that you mentioned the regular cleaning and dusting, like, how would we regularly clean and dust our house? We should apply those same practices to our office space as well. yes, absolutely. and then you had talked about too, strategies of coming up with not only a, overall company comprehensive plan, but then the individualized plan, you know, back to the accommodations.
I think it'd be great if, workplaces could ask as part of the onboarding, and I know this is becoming a more common practice, like what are some accommodations that, that you need for the workplace? And then just making sure that allergies and asthma is just one of the check boxes or just one of the options.
to, be able to discuss, to come up with that individualized employee plan.
[00:19:55] Dr. Carla Davis: yeah, absolutely. there are, asthma action plans that physicians can give to patients with, allergies. There are food allergy action plans and, and there are even, rhinitis action plans or people have hives, you know, they, can have a hive action plan.
And so these are designed. For the person to take it, where, you know, they may be at all times when it's school or in a workplace and, and if they have symptoms, be able to, to manage those symptoms. that a really good plan will also have, some instructions about, you know, avoid, you know, moldy areas or so, you know, something like that, you know, or clean, you know, the, moldy areas in your home would.
With bleach, one part bleach, nine part water. they may, say, you know, you should get some filters. even some, people I didn't mention this are allergic to cockroaches and so, oh wow. Yeah. So, really having a great, extermination, regular plan in the workplace is also helpful because sometimes you can't really see, though, they don't come out that they may be, you know, elsewhere in the building and affect employees.
the other allergen I also didn't mention was, mouse urine and, and so all of those things, we don't like to think about little pets in the workplace, but occasionally there are some. And so employers should have a really great extermination plan, make sure that they don't, impact their employees.
That's
[00:21:31] Wendy Fong: really helpful. Honestly, anyone could be allergic to anything. That's how I view it. And you just don't know unless you ask. Absolutely. With these action plans you mentioned, where can an HR professional, I mean, find those resources? I'm sure there's templates out there. If the American Academy of Allergy, asthma and Humanology has resources on your website.
[00:21:55] Dr. Carla Davis: We do. we definitely have, resources. So for, for not only, patients, but general information, that HR. you know, professionals can go to in order to find out more about the allergies as well as how, they should be managed by the patient and then what doctors would do.
[00:22:19] Wendy Fong: That would definitely be a helpful start if if our audience who's list, watching or listening doesn't know where to start, in coming up with the plan, I think that would be great resource.
[00:22:33] Dr. Carla Davis: yeah, we have asthma action plans and food allergy action plans for patients. So it can give the, The professional, an idea of really what the patient is going through.
And then they're also training, resources there as well, or referrals to sites that will, provide training resources for, treatment of anaphylaxis and also, you know, removal of allergen. Okay,
[00:22:58] Wendy Fong: so say I'm in hr. And I wanna collaborate with management to make sure employees are trained and aware.
Management, healthcare professor professionals. How can we ensure that we all work together to make sure that individuals that do have allergies or asthma feel supported at work?
[00:23:19] Dr. Carla Davis: I think a really, nice strategy is to bring all the stakeholders together. So, as an HR professional, you may work with your manager, but you, also probably wanna pull in, right?
Someone from, facilities, right? And you wanna pull in someone from, Cafeteria, cafeteria. And you might wanna pull in also someone, from, the cleaning services so that, as you are addressing all of the, the issues in the area, you have the people, the stakeholders. Who can offer, the details of really, how this is gonna be implemented and facilitated in the workplace.
I think having a clear plan and a communication plan, for how, you're going to, communicate if there is an emergency, but also. Putting together protocols, for cleaning. And if all stakeholders understand what the, goal and reason is for the protocol, or the policy, then then my experience has been there's a much better implementation of those policies and, with clear communication, there is a really, fantastic, action when.
An emergency occurs. So, so I think that all of these, that's, what I would do. I mean, it sounds like a lot of work, but it actually, it would, result in, keeping, people with allergies and asthma and food algae, safe in the workplace.
[00:25:04] Wendy Fong: Yeah, that definitely makes sense. Is this considered, technically a disability or more just like a accommodation request that you've seen?
[00:25:13] Dr. Carla Davis: So again, food allergy is considered a disability. the American for Disabilities Act, doesn't necessarily list, allergies and asthma, but it's considered, as such that you should make accommodations if someone, can't reasonably do their job, without. Having the allergies, managed or the exposure to allergens, managed in the workplace.
So, it benefits everyone to make accommodations, benefits the employee. It also benefits the employer because that employee isn't gonna call out sick. They're not gonna get sick when they're at work, and, they're gonna be able to do their job, in a productive way.
[00:25:57] Wendy Fong: Yeah, you mentioned too it supports their productivity, that they're in a safe and healthy environment to be able to do their job.
[00:26:05] Dr. Carla Davis: Yes. And the other thing is to create an environment where people don't feel afraid to share what they need in the environment and then train all the other employees on, food allergies, environmental allergies, asthma, so that everyone is aware and accepting of the person who actually has, the disability.
[00:26:28] Wendy Fong: Great. Well, looking ahead at the future, do you see any trends or advancements. Coming along down the pipeline for managing allergies and asthma. I know I had mentioned a lot of, different strategies and policies.
[00:26:44] Dr. Carla Davis: Oh yeah. There, there are a lot of things that are happening very rapidly in our field and, a couple of them that I will mention, and are, concerning immunotherapy, which, is a method of, decreasing a person's allergic response to an allergen by, administering that allergen at a, specific time in a safe fashion.
but. With immunotherapy in the beginning of the process, there can be some reactions and so it's really helpful if an employee can share if they are gonna get, for instance, a shot or a dose of the immunotherapy, treatment. Before they come in to the workplace, because there may be a situation where, you know, they may have some residual symptoms.
So that's one thing that's a trend is more immunotherapy. And, there is immunotherapy to food now there's immunotherapy to peanut. So, so kind of keeping, that in mind if, someone comes to you, with immunotherapy just to, to listen and see what can be done. Big, advancement that's occurred over the past decade is really the, explosion of the use of injectable medications called biologics.
These medications, are very specific to allergies. You may have seen they have many commercials actually now on TV. For them, there are shots that can be given, once a week, once every two weeks or once a month. And, and the reason why this is important in the workplace is, you know, if, An employee decides they wanna give themselves a shot at work, which, you know, the allergist probably wouldn't recommend, but, if, that is done, you know, then the employee needs to understand that, you know, they're, in some situations could be a very small risk of, a reaction.
Those are, two really, big, advances. I will share a couple more that are a little more, futuristic, but, we're looking at digitally, monitoring, asthma and that could, come into the workplace. There may be people who, are being monitored. Digitally for symptoms. And so that's something, to keep in mind as, we move more into the age of having, algorithms and artificial intelligence to, to help us manage our own, diseases.
[00:29:21] Wendy Fong: Oh, wow. Well that is really exciting to hear. There's a lot of medical advancements that are happening down the pipeline, and especially with AI coming into play, seeing how much research and how much. That's gonna change in the next few years. Yeah.
[00:29:37] Dr. Carla Davis: Yeah. there, there may be, a situation where something is happening in the workplace and, and the doctors, you know, trying to, you know, they're being able to see this in real time.
And, so, I mean, again, a lot of communication between different stakeholders is gonna be, very important, in the future.
[00:30:00] Wendy Fong: It's definitely important to remember. Well, we really appreciate you sharing all of that, and we'll be sure to keep an eye on different advancements, things in the news, in this, space of allergies and, asthma.
but really thank you so much Dr. Davis for sharing all your information, your insights with us. And that's gonna do it for this week's episode of Honest hr. So Honest HR is part of SHR m's. HR daily flagship content series, and you can head over at any time to SH rm.org/hr daily to learn more and sign up for our newsletter.
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