Being exposed to strong paint fumes at work during pregnancy

[m221987]

I'm 16 weeks pregnant and I work evening shift in a factory, which is currently having the floors etc repainted. Last night the fumes were so bad I started to get a headache and feel sick. I told the only member of health and safety who was working and he tried to put down the shutter between the 2 units to stop the smell but he couldn't do it. So I demanded a face mask like the one the guy who was painting had on. He went and got one but it wasn't a clean new one like i expected, it was one which had clearly been worn by someone else and had paint on and was black inside! I was so angry but wore it for a hour to see if it would help but it meant i couldn't wear my safety glasses with it on. eventually it annoyed me so much I walked out. I just wanted to know others opinions on this. can they be doing this whilst there are people working and not even being able to supply clean safety wear? another lady who is pregnant walked out too and a couple of other employees were suffering with headaches x

[LifeIsNow]

I would imagine your employer should have some guidelines in place to look after staff....do you have an hr team or h&s manager you can talk to for advice? You could be put at risk with these kinds of fumes so a workplace assessment might be good? I presume your employer is aware you are pg? You may need to adjust your role to accomodate being pg if your employer is open to this? I'd seek advice from a manager?