5 industries where chemical exposure claims are most common

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Chemical exposure at work can cause lasting harm. If you’ve worked around hazardous substances and developed a health problem, it’s worth understanding whether your employer met their legal obligations to protect you.

Some industries carry far higher risk than others. In this blog, our specialist industrial disease solicitors explain what chemical exposure means and the five sectors where we see these claims most often.

What is workplace chemical exposure?

Chemical exposure happens when a hazardous substance enters the body or comes into contact with it. The most common scenario is in the workplace.

Exposure falls into two broad categories:

  1. Acute exposure: a single, often dramatic incident such as a chemical spill or a toxic leak.
  2. Chronic exposure: this is repeated, lower-level contact over months or years. This type of chemical exposure is harder to spot because symptoms build gradually and may not appear until long after the exposure has stopped.

How does chemical exposure happen?

Chemical exposure can happen in several ways:

  • Inhalation: breathing in fumes, dust, vapours, or gases
  • Skin contact: direct absorption through the skin, or irritation from repeated contact with the hazardous substance
  • Ingestion: accidentally swallowing a substance, e.g. via contaminated hands or surfaces
  • Injection: rare, but possible through punctures from contaminated equipment

What are an employer’s duties when protecting employees against chemical exposure?

In the UK, employers have a legal duty under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) to assess risks, provide appropriate protective equipment, ensure proper ventilation, and train staff on safe handling. Read more about COSHH regulations here.

If an employer fails in that duty and a worker is harmed as a result, the worker may be able to make a personal injury claim. This applies whether the harm is a burn suffered yesterday or a respiratory condition that’s taken years to develop.

Five jobs at the highest risk for chemical exposure

1. Construction

Construction site workers come into contact with a wide range of hazardous substances, often daily. Common substances include:

  • Cement and concrete dust
  • Isocyanates and Epoxy resins
  • Cabon monoxide
  • Toxic fumes generated by heavy machinery
  • Solvents and adhesives used in flooring, sealants, and paints

The harm caused by these exposures is often cumulative and long-term and can cause respiratory conditions such as asthma or skin conditions/dermatitis. Because symptoms can take longer to appear, personal injury claims rely heavily on evidence of exposure history rather than a single incident.

Employers on construction sites are expected to carry out thorough risk assessments, provide respiratory protective equipment, ensure proper ventilation, and ensure that dust suppression measures are in place.

2. Manufacturing

Manufacturing environments frequently involve industrial solvents, degreasing agents, and chemical fumes as part of everyday production processes. Workers can be exposed to hazardous chemicals through:

In manufacturing jobs, injuries range from chemical burns and skin conditions to occupational asthma and other respiratory illnesses. If an employer hasn’t properly assessed the risks of the substances used on their production line, or has failed to maintain safety equipment, this can form the basis of a personal injury claim.

3. Cleaning

Cleaning jobs involve regular contact with chemicals that are hazardous if mishandled. Common issues include:

  • Mixing incompatible chemicals, which can release toxic gases
  • Prolonged skin contact with strong detergents or disinfectants
  • Insufficient training on COSHH-controlled substances and safe storage

Cleaners often work alone or with minimal supervision, which can mean safety training and proper labelling get overlooked. Injuries range from chemical burns and severe dermatitis to respiratory damage from toxic fume inhalation, particularly where bleach and ammonia-based products are combined.

4. Hairdressing and beauty

Hairdressers, colourists, and beauty therapists regularly work with chemical products, and exposure often builds up gradually. Key risks for those in the beauty industry include:

  • Hair dyes and bleaching agents causing contact dermatitis
  • Perm solutions and relaxers, which can irritate skin and airways
  • Acrylic and gel fumes from nail treatments, linked to respiratory sensitisation

Because the harm often develops slowly, hairdressing-related dermatitis is one of the most commonly reported occupational skin conditions. Salons and beauty businesses are expected to provide gloves, ensure adequate ventilation, and train staff on safe product handling.

5. Agriculture

Farm workers are regularly exposed to pesticides, herbicides, and fertilisers, often across large open areas where exposure isn’t always immediately obvious. This type of environment is often overlooked because farmers presume that being outdoors eliminates the risk of long-term chemical exposure.

Risks for farmers and farm workers include:

  • Direct skin contact during spraying or handling
  • Inhalation of chemical drift during application
  • Contaminated clothing or equipment causing repeated low-level exposure

Agricultural chemical exposure claims can be particularly complex, since symptoms may not appear for years and workers may have been exposed to multiple substances over a long career. When making a personal injury claim, your solicitor will need to establish a clear link between exposure and harm, which often requires a detailed work history and medical evidence.

What to do if you’ve been exposed to harmful chemicals at work

If you believe you’ve developed a health condition because of chemical exposure at work, whether immediately or over a long period of time, it’s worth seeking legal advice, even if the exposure happened some time ago.

Some industrial diseases have long latency periods during which symptoms are subtle or not apparent at all; however, your right to make a personal injury claim doesn’t necessarily disappear just because time has passed since the exposure.

When looking at your injuries and whether your chemical exposure claim is likely to succeed, your personal injury solicitor will look at:

Contact our specialist solicitors about making a chemical exposure claim

If you think chemical exposure at work has affected your health, or you have been injured by acute exposure to a harmful substance, our personal injury lawyers may be able to help.

For an initial, no-obligation chat with a member of our team, call 0117 325 2929 or fill out our enquiry form.

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