Is there a nice way to post a ‘no perfumes’ sign?

I found the following online:

notices announcing Board meetings will include the statement that: “Persons attending Board meetings are requested to refrain from using perfume, cologne, and other fragrances for the comfort of other participants.”
A sign will be posted outside Board meeting rooms reminding persons attending the meetings to refrain from using fragrances.

Hopefully this verbage will help.

I would make a sign that read “Fragrance Free Environment”, and under that write something like, “Due to allergies please refrain from strong fragrances.” However, I don’t think this will stop people from coming into the office from the outside. Especially since you work in a college, students are usually busy and I doubt a sign would stop them from coming in just because they are wearing perfume.

I’m reminded of what my Choir Director says to remind us that we shouldn’t use fragrances. At the beginning of the season,he says, “Remember now,this choir has no scents!”

I work for a Texas State Government agency and our communications office came up with the following. They have it posted in the ladies rooms and on our intranet. Hope it helps.

Healthy Workplace Reminder: Good Sense for Scents

What would you do if a coworker requested that you stop wearing your favorite perfume/cologne — or any at all because it made him or her ill? Your reaction to that request may vary.

Perhaps you’d be irritated because it seemed petty or you’d just ignore it and hope it went away, but continue to wear your perfume/cologne and let your coworker suffer the consequences. Another choice would be to stop using fragrances at work in consideration of your coworker’s health.

These same questions and responses apply to the use of other items in the workplace including: cleaning products, hair spray, air freshener, and so on.

While you’re deciding which option you’d choose, consider the following:

About 15 percent of the general population have adverse health effects from perfumes and solvents, becoming ill from even small amounts of fragrance products.
Nearly 72 percent of asthmatics have adverse reactions to these items.
Reported adverse health effects from these items range from chronic nausea, migraine headaches, asthma attacks and other respiratory problems, chronic fatigue, burning & watering eyes, dizziness to cardiac and neurological symptoms.
Some U.S. employers ban fragrances in the workplace due to the health needs of their employees.
While DADS does not have a specific fragrance-free policy, you are asked to be sensitive to those who may suffer adverse reactions to fragrances. This is a serious health issue for a significant number of people. Courtesy toward your fellow coworkers, clients, and the general public is always a top priority, and may include limiting or eliminating fragrances (e.g. perfumes/colognes, hair spray, and air freshener).

DADS employees are asked to be respectful of the needs of others. Please remember that your use of fragrances is voluntary, while another’s adverse reaction is not.

I am one of those people who have problems with fragrances. When somebody wears perfume or uses strongly scented hand lotion, I literally cannot breathe, and there is case law to protect my right to a fragrance-free workplace. Betty & Valerie have the right ideas, and you should not worry about “offending” other people. It’s the chemicals in perfume and other scented products which cause the problem, and those of us who can’t handle fragrances should not have to feel that accommodating a simple request not to wear perfume is “special” treatment. If I’m away from the office because fragrances make me sick, this puts additional pressure on others in the work group to take up my duties and is not cost-effective either.

“No perfumes or cologne allowed in this area due to allergies.”

We have a small staff (15), and one person who used to work here had the same allergies. Whenever a new employee was hired, they were told right from the start that no perfume or cologne was allowed due to the allergies. Nobody had a problem with it.

To M & Good Grief: Look again at Eidth Avila’s remarks, particularly this one: Please remember that you use of fragrances is voluntary, while another’s adverse reaction is not. Most of my problems with fragrance happen indoors; when I’m outdoors, I can move away from the fragrances. I have had to leave crowded restaurants, movies, concerts, when those sitting close to me have “heavy-duty” (yes, I know it’s in the nose of the beholder) and I do so. I use non-fragrance detergent in the washing machine, non-fragrance soaps, shampoos, hairspray, cosmetics, hand & body lotion and antiperspirant/deodorant, all of which are not difficult to find. The only place where I am entitled, by law, to have some control over this issue is the workplace. So to Good Grief & M: thank goodness you and your other family members do not have allergies, or you wouldn’t have such a callous attitude towards people like myself.

To Anon: I did not by any means mean to sound uncaring or callous toward this issue. My point, which you obviously missed, is that the entire environment can not be controlled as long as an individual works with the public. I do have allergies and I have spoken with my coworkers regarding my issues but I do not expect that everyone that I come in contact with will care about MY problems. I personally do not use heavily scented products. Your comments were unnecessary, if you actually read my comments you might realize I was trying to help and give my opinion but it seems you were just looking for some reason to criticize others and make yourself sound mistreated.

I’m amazed at the reactions this question has gotten myself. For those of you who wear fragrances, remember that you have evenings, weekends and holidays to wear them whenever and wherever. Actually, I have had very few problems in my various workplaces, but there are people who announce their presence by the amount and strength of what they wear. Areas of my present workplace are “fragrance-free” because of people who have asthma which is triggered by fragrance (not my particular situation). I would be extremely unlikely to sue anybody over use of fragrance unless my health were irreversibly damaged to the point that I was totally disabled(I only mentioned case law because I’m protected by it) and telecommuting is not an option in my department. Nor should I have to leave a very good job with excellent pay and benefits at the very best place I have ever worked because I have a problem which is easily addressed. As far as the public is concerned, I deal with members of the public at the customer counter everyday and take public transportation to and from work. Most of the time people wear a minimal amount of fragrances, and I don’t experience the problems. But some people believe that more is better & use fragrances accordingly without realizing how much they are “perfuming” the air.. And some of you still don’t get it: your use of fragrance is voluntary: the reaction is not.

Recently a new employee was hired who has allergies to strong scents, and everyone has been told not to wear perfumes, etc when we are going to be around her. Our department contains two divisions, and I work in the division which is off-site from the main office and she works in the main office site. I was really interested to see this item here. I feel that I have to comply with the request because it was made by the boss, but there is no excuse for one person to make everyone else change their personal hygiene routines for one person. In this day and age there are allergy tests and medications which can control her symptoms and it makes much more sense for one person to take the steps to deal with their physical issues than to expect everyone else to comply. No matter how nicely it is said, the fact is that one person controls what everyone else can or can’t do. And who decides whose scent if “over the top”? That would be a highly subjective call. I say, go the the Allergist and deal with your personal problems personally.

Just politely ask those that consistently bother you or post a small polite sign outside your office. I had one coworker that wore a really strong scent that everyone in the office would talk about when she left. One day some mentioned it to her and she apologized. She said she didn’t notice how strong she was applying her scent, she had a family member in the hospital that was non-responsive to many things but when she came in her room with “her fragrance” there was always a response. She toned it down after that, she really didn’t realize how strong it was. I have allergies and worked in a college setting with other that allergies. There’s just not too much you can do for the occasional offender but day to day co-workers you can just politely let them know how much it bothers you.