AIBU to ask to move desks away from colleague with BO?

[ManhattanMama]

So - AIBU to have requested a desk move at work because the guy I sit next to has really bad BO?

I've just come back off maternity leave after 6 months and have been seated next to the smelliest person I think I've ever met - it actually makes me feel sick when he walks past me or wafts in my general direction.

Another desk has opened up and I've asked my boss if I can move - he asked why so I was honest (have no other reason for wanting to move) and he said "He's not that smelly" and that i should speak to him directly if I have a problem with it!

I know it's not just me who think he smells as some of the other guys were joking about it over lunch. They think the only time he has a shower/bath is after he's been for a run with some colleagues which is once a week.

So AIBU? How on earth would I go about telling him I Think he smells?

Help!

Havent read all of this post but its horrible if you have to work next to someone who stinks. I once did in a large open-plan office and the smell used to linger for ages even after he went home. I regularly used to work late and was often last to leave. If anyone walked through they couldnt help but smell it and think it was me as I was the only one left!

Try to tell him yourself if you can. I took the plunge and told a work colleague with horrific BO. It was embarrassing for both of us but we did become good friends and had respect for each other. If I had this problem I'd much rather a colleague told me than be dragged into HR or bosses office.
Do it on a Friday at the end of the day

Freckle, that's the Old Man Trouser Smell.

Eeewwww. I think you're right though.

Some people do have horrible enzyme problems that cause Naaaasty BO. Does he have really bad skin as well? (not that the effect is any different on you, but if it is the case, it may be worth trying to get him to get medical treatment).

Looks like there are several potential enzyme-linked causes.

So sorry!!! Just realised this is a very old thread!!

I wonder if he still smells 14 years later

I sympathise, I have worked with a smelly man too, in a temporary job, the stench was disgusting. Imagine the smell of a meat & potato pie, one week old, but much more concentrated, and my colleagues said they couldn't smell it ! He asked to borrow a girl's hairbrush, as he had very long hair, and she handed her hairbrush over to him. The stinker was also obese, taking so much room up, everyone was forced to step sideways around him.
I took a page out of a magazine advertising Lynx deodorant and put it on the break table where he normally sat, with a small roll on bottle & a bar of soap, and the following day the manager told me i wasn't needed anymore. (Agency work)