Please note: If you have an apostrophe in your name, please don't include the apostrophe on the payment page
Health & Safety Advice
Is it Safe to be Pregnant at Work?
As an employer, you have a duty of care under
the Health and Safety at Work Act to assess the risks to pregnant women within
your workplace.
But often, a newly-expecting mum-to-be won't feel ready to share their condition
with their employers and colleagues straight away. Some even wait until their
pregnancy becomes difficult to conceal.
And often their reasons for this are legitimate – previous miscarriages,
relevant health conditions and marital status all have a bearing. Some women
worry that their pregnancy will alter their employer and colleagues' perception
of them.
Since the advent of recession, concerns have even been raised that some
unscrupulous employers are using the downturn as a guise to get rid of pregnant
employees and those on maternity leave.
So clearly there's a conflict of interests: on the one hand, women are entitled
to their privacy. On the other, you can't assess risks when you are unaware of
their condition.
The HR department will say they must be notified to ensure eligibility for all
maternity rights. However, the picture looks different when viewed from the
health and safety angle.
If the employer is not informed that an employee is pregnant, it makes it
impossible to carry out a risk assessment that takes into account her condition.
The factors you'll need to consider might include workplace stress, manual
handling, appropriate seating and working areas. But if you remain in ignorance
of an employee being pregnant, you can't fulfil your legal responsibilities.
So what should you do?
There's a two stage process laid down by the legislation, because, according to
the Government, all women are considered to be vulnerable during pregnancy.
- Stage
1 is a generic risk assessment – relating to all women of child-bearing age
generally in the workplace.
- Stage
2 is a specific risk assessment, which relates to the woman concerned and
examines the particular issues that individual has. These may include health
issues such as pre-eclampsia, long term existing conditions, history of
miscarriages etc. – plus the work she is expected to carry out.
Taking these legal
requirements into consideration, the only way to ensure pregnant staff are
looked after appropriately is to put the requirement to inform the employer as
soon as a pregnancy is known into your contracts of employment.
This is not an invasion of privacy. It is simply common sense.Â
Nobody wants to put an unborn child at risk. The majority of employers will see
this as a moral requirement, not simply a response to legislation.
It's important that the wishes of the mother-to-be are treated with respect and,
if she wishes to keep her situation private, any related activities are carried
out with discretion. This may not be possible in some situations as colleagues
are bound to ask questions if someone suddenly is taken off certain duties.
So organisations need to specify (in the staff handbook or the equivalent) that
women who are pregnant need to notify their employer as soon as they are aware
of their situation. This will enable you to manage both their health and safety and that of their unborn child.Â
Pregnancy in the workplace.
Some hazards in the workplace
may affect the health and safety of new and expectant mothers and of their
children. The Company is required by law to take particular account of any risks
to new and expectant mothers in the work place.
Under the Management of
Health and Safety At Work Regulations (Amended 1999), The employee has a duty to
inform the employer in writing that they are pregnant.Â
When you tell Human Resources
that you are pregnant, your manager will be asked to liaise with you to conduct
a risk assessment, to ensure that any hazards are identified and remedial action
can be taken.
Self Assessment
We recommend that you inform
Human Resources or your immediate manager. that you are pregnant as soon as you
are able to, so that we can arrange for you to have a risk assessment conducted
at the earliest opportunity.
However, we fully understand
that you may wish to wait for a while before you tell your colleagues that you
are pregnant.
The attached risk assessment
form and guidelines are designed for you to use as a checklist to help you
assess potential hazards for yourself in the meantime. We recommend you do this
as soon as possible, since the foetus is particularly vulnerable in the early
stages of pregnancy.
The Legal Bit
Assessing the Risks – Your
Responsibility as a Manager
If a member of your staff
tells Human Resources that they are pregnant, we will contact you to ask that
you conduct a risk assessment for that employee, to ensure that any hazards are
identified and remedial action can be taken.
Similarly, if a member of
your staff tells you they are pregnant, please ask them to inform Human
Resources.
Conducting the Assessment
Please ensure you (or your
nominated Health and Safety Representative) complete risk assessment form with
the member of staff. As the manager, you need to sign the form confirming the
assessment has been carried out – even if no risks are identified.
The form has also been
designed so that a pregnant employee can assess the risks for herself before she
may wish to tell anyone about the pregnancy – the foetus is particularly
vulnerable to certain risks in the early stages of pregnancy.
What to do if a risk is
identified?
If it is necessary to remove
a new or expectant mother from a significant risk, the following steps explain
levels of action that may be required, and the legislation that requires that
action.
Removal from Risk:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Risk Assessments must be undertaken at three
monthly intervals during the working period of the pregnant person. If you
require assistance or copy of a risk assessment, drop an email to [email protected]
T:
0845 009 1711 – F: 0700 6069500
 5 Grampian Court, Beveridge Square,
Livingston EH54 6QF