www.occupationalasthma.com is a website run by the Birmingham and West Midlands OASYS group. It contains information about occupational asthma and a download of the free, multi award winning OASYS software, used to diagnosis occupational asthma from serial peak expiratory flow records.  

There are also sections on:

• Causes - established and novel reported causes of occupational asthma
• References - a searchable database of more than 5000 published papers in the field of occupational asthma
• BOHRF - current UK evidence-based guidelines for diagnosing occupational asthma
• Case histories - a learning resource for healthcare professionals
• SHIELD - statistics for occupational asthma in the West Midlands

OASYS is a free computer software program that plots and interprets serial peak expiratory flow (PEF) readings for patients with suspected work-related asthma.  The computer generated score has a 94% sensitivity and 75% specificity for occupational asthma diagnosis.  This program, along with instructions and workplace PEF cards, is free to download from the website, for all Windows operating systems.  

SHIELD is a voluntary surveillance scheme for occupational asthma run by the Birmingham NHS occupational lung disease service.  It has been open for reporting of cases from respiratory and occupational physicians in the West Midlands, since it was started by Sherwood Burge and Alastair Robertson in 1989.

The most frequently reported cause of occupational asthma year-on-year is the chemical molecule isocyanate, usually found in spray ing two-pack paints, adhesives or in the manufacture of polyureathne plastic or foam.