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"If buildings are unhealthy, then we'll have to close down the workplaces inside them. "That's what we did when the day-care center disease emrged in the 1970s, and it yielded results. "We didn't feel sorry for the municipalities. Their money-saving experiment was a major failure. It turned out to be much more expensive, instead." So says Si r Marlasin, Chairman of the Swedish Municipa Workers' Union, in describing the most effective weapon that employee organizations have for backing up their demands regarding poor working environments. "Sick buildings are definitely a working- environment problem," Marjasin asserts. "Experiencing discomfort once is nothing, but having to constantly battle colds and irritated eyes is an entirely different matter. "Perhaps it's possible to live with the problems caused by sick buildings, but will the suffering ever stop?" Allerg ies are considered to be a major problem today. But this does not seem to have had any effect on efforts aimed at improving the working environment in offices and other buildings. Sigvard Marjasin admits that trade unions have little knowledge as to the type of problems caused by sick buildings. And they do not know what to do about them, either. "Saying that we're paralyzed would be stretching things a bit too far - lack of insight would be more appropriate. "We're not as alert as we should be. We s_imply haven't been able to find a link between these diseases and the environment. Quite some time passed before the building industry itself became aware." Sigvard Marjasin says that trade unions need information from engineers and researchers in order to take action and inform members. The Swedish Municipal Workers' Union monitors each study carried out in this field. Take the MalmtS study, for example, which found that only 10% of the city's 1,740 public buildings could be classified as healthy! The government allergy study and the studies conducted by the National Board of Occupational Safety and Health have also been used as a basis for discussion with the 20,000 industrial safety delegates that belong to the Swedish Municipal Workers' Union. "Building standards must be established," says Sigvard Mariasin. "Product control is a necessity, as is the obligation by the building industry not to use unhealthy materials. But we're not sitting idly and waiting for the industry or the authorities to take action. There's no sense sitting back passively." The problem facing trade unions involves defining the cause and effect. This is true in the case of sick buildings as well as in a number of other examples singled out by Sigvard Marjasin.

"Take asbestos, for example. We helped initiate that debate. Back injuries at the workplace used to be considered a genetic problem. We've succeeded in proving that this is a question of wear and tear from work. This represents a major victory for the individual. Perhaps in 10 years, we'll have the same evidence regarding diseases caused by sick buildings." Sigvard Marjasin emphasizes the need for statistics that quantify occupational injuries in order to obtain this evidence. One method of accomplishing this involves making sure that people become aware of the sick building syndrome. "Then people will begin to link their problems to the working environment. if not, they'll feel bad without knowing why. "Naturally, we can never accept unhealthy workplaces," stresses Sigvard Marjasin. "The working environment must be designed to be healthy."