How do I do a risk assessment for a pregnant employee?
As an employer, it’s important that you know how to complete a risk assessment for someone who’s pregnant. It’s your responsibility to carry out individual risk assessments to cover a workers specific needs. In this case, the person who is pregnant must inform the employer in writing that they are either:
- Pregnant
- Breastfeeding
- Or have given birth within the last six months
Why do you need to do a Risk Assessment?
It’s very important that an employer gets risk assessments done for those that are pregnant, this is so they can:
- See if your job poses a risk to you or your baby
- Make any adjustments to remove these risks if this is the case
- Assess whether a risk is found that could cause potential harm to the person who is pregnant, then try and find a way to control it
The three stages of action if a risk is identified
If there is a potential risk identified, then there are three stages of action the employer must take a pregnancy risk assessment, these steps are:
- Making adjustments to working conditions or hours
- Finding them reasonable alternative work
- Suspend the worker and give them paid leave to protect both them and the child’s safety
Working conditions to consider in a risk assessment
Working conditions sometimes pose a risk at different stages during someone’s pregnancy, so as a result these factors need to be assessed by the employer:
- The workers speed of movement
- Co-ordination
- Agility
- Dexterity (which is a change in their physical activity)
- Reach
Common Risk to be aware of for pregnant employees
With all risks, there are always things you should be made aware of, and those who are pregnant in the workplace should take notice of the following things:
- Their posture and position
- The working conditions they’re currently in
- A risk of physical injury
- Any exposure to harmful substances
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Potential dangers of not doing a risk assessment for pregnant workers
If an employer does not undertake a risk assessment for those that are pregnant, then there may always be the chance of legal action being taken against them by the HSE (the health and safety executive). The employer can also leave themselves open to a claim of maternity discrimination if a risk assessment isn’t conducted.
Summary
If you don’t feel you have the resource in-house to be able to carry out this risk assessment then we can provide this service for you directly via our pregnancy risk assessment service, with this you get a pregnancy workplace risk assessment where a qualified assessor comes to your site, undertakes the risk assessment themselves and gives you a full report.
To learn more about pregnancy risk assessments, please don’t hesitate to contact us on 0330 332 0880. Or otherwise email us at enquiries@posturepeople.co.uk.
