Pregnant woman on board!

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) predicts that in the next five years over one million pregnant women will experience discrimination at work. Pauline Pembry, Employment Services Manager at FirstAssist, a leading provider of Employee Assistance Programmes, is urging businesses to conduct formal risk assessments to consider the workplace health and safety issues facing new or expectant mothers.



Pembry explains, ìEmployers who are unaware of their legal obligations face a very real risk of prosecution. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, state that you must protect the health and safety of new and expectant mothers who work. Under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, it is automatically considered discrimination if you fail to do so. Surveys by both the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the EOC have shown, however, that most employers fail to conduct any form of risk assessment.î

The EOC is campaigning for a change in the law that would make it standard procedure for midwives to give expectant or new mothers advisory leaflets to pass to their employers. It is imperative though that businesses take a proactive approach and conduct simple assessments to avoid potential risk to their employees and their business.

Furthermore, it is the general health and safety obligation of any business to conduct a risk assessment for all employees. As pregnancy often goes undetected for the first few weeks after conception, as part of a health and safety assessment, employers should identify hazards and risks for all female employees of childbearing age.

Pembry concludes, ìIt is commonplace nowadays for women who are expecting a baby to work well into their pregnancy, and as well as this, many will return to work while they are still breastfeeding. The law requires that an employer takes into account the special circumstances of new and expectant mothers. Implementing an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is one of a number of ways a business can effectively provide advice and support to employees whilst protecting the company in the long term. Indeed, EAPs are the first step on the road to developing a proactive approach to staff wellbeing. Professional counselling and advisory services support staff and employers alike, meaning that women can experience a pregnancy and new motherhood that is relatively free from work-related concerns, whilst employers can use the services to provide staff the highest levels of support and care.î

Risk Assessment

The Health and Safety Executiveís (HSE) five-step process to carry out the risk assessment:

1. Look for the hazards
2. Decide who might be harmed and how
3. Evaluate the risks and decide whether the existing precautions are adequate or more should be done
4. Record your findings
5. Review your assessment and revise if it is necessary.

Common Risks for Pregnant Women within the Workplace

1. Constant standing and sitting
2. Confined spaces
3. Manual labour ñ lifting, carrying, working at heights
4. Shocks, vibration and noise
5. Radiation
6. Biological or chemical agents
7. Occupational stress
8. Passive smoking
9. Extremes of heat or cold
10. Working alone
11. Work-related violence

Addressing Risk

If a risk is identified you should:

1. Temporarily adjust the employeeís working conditions and/or hours of work to remove the risk

2. If it is not reasonable to do so or if the risk remains, then offer the employee suitable alternative work (at the same rate of pay) if available

3. If thatís not feasible, then suspend her from work on paid leave for as long as necessary to protect her health and safety, and/or that of her child.

10 steps to ensuring a business has the right EAP:

1. Credibility of provider - a service is only as good as the people who provide it

2. Position as risk management tool ñ the need to reduce and prevent harmful stress occurring is greater than ever

3. Successful and comprehensive implementation ñ absolute confidentiality is essential

4. Flexibility of the provider ñ the provider must offer a comprehensive range of additional services to the ëcoreí EAP

5. Account management ñ a single point of contact within the provider is essential

6. Ongoing support ñ once established, ongoing promotion is required

7. Management information ñ provision of in-depth and clear management information is essential for the EAP to achieve its full potential

8. Value of product ñ a happy workforce is a productive and loyal workforce

9. Recruitment and retention ñ in todayís job market, competition for quality employees is fierce

10. Quality of service provision ñ having the best intentions in the world can all come to nought if the provider does not have the necessary infrastructure and systems in place to facilitate the right service provision.