Contact Dermatitis

Workers' dry, cracked hands and skin aren't just part of the job. They're symptoms of a health condition called occupational contact dermatitis - the leading cause of work-related illness.[1] Poor skin condition can affect worker performance and quality of life, as well as create costs derived from workers' compensation and lost productivity.

Skin disease may sound like a harsh word and bring to mind images of skin that looks obviously damaged, illustrated in Picture D. However, we are also including skin which looks "normal," but may be dry, flaky, cracked, cut, or red. Notice that the hands in the other pictures do not look severely damaged. All these symptoms are evidence of occupational irritant contact dermatitis - that's skin disease.

Many workers have come to accept skin that looks like this as "part of the job," but symptoms of occupational irritant contact dermatitis can be prevented.