 EXPECTANT
OFFICE WORKERS AT RISKSpecialist Health & Safety Consultant
Mitchell Winter of Winter & Company has issued a warning advisory to
all employers of the risks to the Health, Safety and Welfare of New and
Expectant Mothers at Work and to those working at home. Mitchell Winter states that up to 60% of
employers are completely unaware of their legal responsibilities in that
they are required to undertake a specific Risk Assessment in respect of
New and Expectant Mothers. The problem is further compounded in that
the majority (estimated at 75% of expectant mothers) are equally unaware
that they are required to inform their employer in writing at the
earliest possible opportunity of their expected arrival. Communications of this nature are of
paramount importance to both employer and employee as notification of
pregnancy should trigger the Risk Assessment process which will help
identify the options available to both parties i.e., alter working
conditions and hours where appropriate, provide suitable alternative
work, or in some cases, suspend the expectant mother on full pay. Provision for the legally required Risk
Assessment for New and Expectant Mothers is reinforced in the Management
of Health & Safety at Work Regulations and further promoted by
official guidance. To date, the response has been very poor
as employers continually fail to recognise the hazards faced
by both new and expectant mothers at work, especially those employed in
an office, which historically had been considered a relatively low risk
environment, but now represents a significant proportion of accidents in
the workplace. There is a clear trend emerging in that
the majority of office workers are indeed women.
Most of these women are predominately stationed at computers for
most of the working day. Prolonged periods at the workstation (static
work) can and often leads to complications, via fatigue,
tiredness and stress which could have easily been addressed if the
employer had undertaken the appropriate Risk Assessment in the first
place. Winter is equally concerned as to the mine
field of other related hazards in the modern office
environment, such as expectant mothers involvement in Manual Handling in
the office. Often when asking an employer if Manual Handling is involved
in the work process the answer is commonly “no” or “I don’t
understand what Manual Handling is”. For an employer to consider that
Manual Handling is not an issue or hazard is foolhardy. Manual Handling
is defined as using bodily force to support and transport a load such as
stationary, the ever ubiquitous water canisters that provide us with
chilled water, together with printers, computer screens and
substantially more. It is estimated that Manual Handling and
Muscular Skeletal (back injury) accidents at work account for more than
10 Million working days lost each year with a cost to industry estimated
at some £5 Billion. The burden to the NHS is estimated at £481
Million. Frighteningly the trend is predicted to worsen and deteriorate
further due employers continuing failure to provide legally required
training. Winter goes on to state that the
consequences for new and expectant mothers are really quite frightening. Trip and slip hazards are equally common
in the modern office environment. Risk Management has historically been
associated with higher risk industries but the modern office environment
has now arrived, with the associated hazards of tripping, slipping and
falling from height (even from the office step ladder and stool).
MITCHELL WINTER (TechSp) www.health-safety.net |
