- Jul 26, 2002
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This may be a little long, but I think the details are needed so that you know what I'm basing my assumptions on.
About 9 months ago a co-worker of mine started having a chronic cough. She ended up going to the doctor and after a few visits and blood tests it was determined she had traces of mold found in her system. She mentioned things to our management staff on a few separate occasions as well as via email. I also had a conversation with our managers because I was concerned for her health and the overall health of our employees.
From what I understand mold allergies can be developed over time and effect people in varying ways. This was an important point I made to my manager at the time. I really got on his case about it. The ceiling tiles were clearly water damaged (from a leaky AC unit) and had been for quite some time. I suspect there is mold over the entire store, as it would have spread over the long amount of time its been there. He basically gave me the run around as far as fixing the issue. I didn't pursue it any further because at the time I wasn't affected directly by it. My co-worker seemed to get better after being on steroids and other medications for some time.
Fast forward now, about a month ago I came down with a nasty cough of my own. I also seemed to have some nasal congestions, running nose etc... Initially I just thought it was a cold. Now for the record I'm 23 years old and in very solid health for the most part. I haven't been to a doctor in about 7 years and haven't had any serious illnesses in that time frame. The worst I've had is maybe a headache for an evening. I never take any medicines, advil or any of that stuff. I'm of the opinion that I should only take medicine if I absolutely need it.
Anyways, after about 2 weeks I started getting concerned that my cough wasn't going away and I actually called out of work sick one day because I just kept coughing non-stop and I figured maybe some rest would do me good. Another week went by and I still wasn't getting better, so I went and saw a Doc. The doc. took a quick look at me and told me I had some a sinus infection. I then asked the doc. if it could be due to mold exposure etc.. she told me it def. could be. I didn't really get to talk to her to much, she seemed very concerned with not really talking to me, but rather just prescribing me antibiotics (which is why I despise going to the doctors). So I took this Z-pack for 5 days as well as claritin. I haven't seen any noticeable improvement in health and I've run the course of the medicine.
Now I have a few things I could do and I'm really trying to decide the best course of action. Some people have advised the I call the county health board? I was looking for a phone # but couldn't really find any relevant numbers. I may keep looking for that though.
I could go back the the doctor, which I may end up doing. I suspect she will just look at me real quick again, and prescribe me something stronger. My concern is that if I am sick due to mold exposure the medicines *might* make me temporarily better, but if I'm still in the same building with mold I'll just get sick again. I'm really not a fan of exposing myself to things that can make me sick like that, or taking unnecessary medications either.
I could speak with my new manager about the situation, but I suspect he won't do a whole lot. He's a bit of a dickhead. He never really takes care of things I ask for. Furthermore, since we are in a mall location he may try to pass the blame onto the mall. We've actually tried to have the mall come out a few times and check for mold but they either don't show up, or they show up and say they need to come back but never come back. Its all a bunch of bullshit and I am not supposed to be handling that shit anyway.
I could call HR, but then I don't know 100% that there is mold in the building (although I'm pretty certain). My last option is to go to my doctor and request a blood test, but then I'm paying for more shit out of pocket that may not be necessary all because people can't provide me with a healthy work environment. And even after I get the bloodtest back that doesn't fix the situation.
I could also just request a transfer to another location, but I know my manager won't be to keen on that, as he's already said he doesn't want me to transfer since I'll be leaving the company within <5 months.
I'm really just looking for some advice. Has anyone else been in a similar situation to this, what did you do?
Sorry no cliffs, if you need those just go to another thread.
About 9 months ago a co-worker of mine started having a chronic cough. She ended up going to the doctor and after a few visits and blood tests it was determined she had traces of mold found in her system. She mentioned things to our management staff on a few separate occasions as well as via email. I also had a conversation with our managers because I was concerned for her health and the overall health of our employees.
From what I understand mold allergies can be developed over time and effect people in varying ways. This was an important point I made to my manager at the time. I really got on his case about it. The ceiling tiles were clearly water damaged (from a leaky AC unit) and had been for quite some time. I suspect there is mold over the entire store, as it would have spread over the long amount of time its been there. He basically gave me the run around as far as fixing the issue. I didn't pursue it any further because at the time I wasn't affected directly by it. My co-worker seemed to get better after being on steroids and other medications for some time.
Fast forward now, about a month ago I came down with a nasty cough of my own. I also seemed to have some nasal congestions, running nose etc... Initially I just thought it was a cold. Now for the record I'm 23 years old and in very solid health for the most part. I haven't been to a doctor in about 7 years and haven't had any serious illnesses in that time frame. The worst I've had is maybe a headache for an evening. I never take any medicines, advil or any of that stuff. I'm of the opinion that I should only take medicine if I absolutely need it.
Anyways, after about 2 weeks I started getting concerned that my cough wasn't going away and I actually called out of work sick one day because I just kept coughing non-stop and I figured maybe some rest would do me good. Another week went by and I still wasn't getting better, so I went and saw a Doc. The doc. took a quick look at me and told me I had some a sinus infection. I then asked the doc. if it could be due to mold exposure etc.. she told me it def. could be. I didn't really get to talk to her to much, she seemed very concerned with not really talking to me, but rather just prescribing me antibiotics (which is why I despise going to the doctors). So I took this Z-pack for 5 days as well as claritin. I haven't seen any noticeable improvement in health and I've run the course of the medicine.
Now I have a few things I could do and I'm really trying to decide the best course of action. Some people have advised the I call the county health board? I was looking for a phone # but couldn't really find any relevant numbers. I may keep looking for that though.
I could go back the the doctor, which I may end up doing. I suspect she will just look at me real quick again, and prescribe me something stronger. My concern is that if I am sick due to mold exposure the medicines *might* make me temporarily better, but if I'm still in the same building with mold I'll just get sick again. I'm really not a fan of exposing myself to things that can make me sick like that, or taking unnecessary medications either.
I could speak with my new manager about the situation, but I suspect he won't do a whole lot. He's a bit of a dickhead. He never really takes care of things I ask for. Furthermore, since we are in a mall location he may try to pass the blame onto the mall. We've actually tried to have the mall come out a few times and check for mold but they either don't show up, or they show up and say they need to come back but never come back. Its all a bunch of bullshit and I am not supposed to be handling that shit anyway.
I could call HR, but then I don't know 100% that there is mold in the building (although I'm pretty certain). My last option is to go to my doctor and request a blood test, but then I'm paying for more shit out of pocket that may not be necessary all because people can't provide me with a healthy work environment. And even after I get the bloodtest back that doesn't fix the situation.
I could also just request a transfer to another location, but I know my manager won't be to keen on that, as he's already said he doesn't want me to transfer since I'll be leaving the company within <5 months.
I'm really just looking for some advice. Has anyone else been in a similar situation to this, what did you do?
Sorry no cliffs, if you need those just go to another thread.
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