Pregnant Workers, Are You Protecting Them?

More than one in four pregnant women experience a miscarriage, one in 200 babies are stillborn, and 100 premature babies are born every day according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

In many workplaces there are risks which, while normally acceptable, may affect the health and safety of new and expectant mothers and that of their child.

Here we explain what employers should do to look after the well being of new and expectant mothers.

Legal requirements

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSW) include regulations to protect the health and safety of female employees who are, or could become a new or expectant mother including: 

• women of childbearing age who are or could be pregnant
• women who have given birth (to a living child or one stillborn after 24 weeks) within the previous six months
• women who are breastfeeding. 

The MHSW regulations specifically require employers to conduct an assessment of risks, where work could involve hazards to the new or expectant mother. 

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 require that suitable and sufficient rest facilities are provided for any person at work who is a pregnant woman or nursing mother.  And under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, if an employer fails to protect the health and safety of their pregnant workers, it is automatically considered sex discrimination.

How do you make sure they are safe?

Risk assessment

A suitable and sufficient risk assessment is the starting point for employers.  A standard maternity risk assessment template is a good idea to make sure the assessor covers all areas.
The assessment should:

• identify any hazards
• assess the risk of harm
• detail any preventative or protective measures necessary to avoid or reduce such risks
• be conducted by a competent person either via external assistance or internal expertise
• involve the pregnant worker to ensure all the relevant issues are covered.

If any hazards cannot be eliminated or reduced sufficiently the pregnant worker’s duties should be adjusted. If that cannot be achieved locally, the pregnant worker should be re-deployed to a safer environment for the duration of the pregnancy.   If this is not possible the legislation requires the pregnant worker to be suspended from work on maternity grounds.

Hazards to consider

When conducting the risk assessment it is important to consider both the job activities and the health and medical history of the individual.

Examine the job activities and identify any potentially significant hazards; try to watch the employee doing their job, especially if it involves an element of manual handling.

Some of the common hazards to consider might be:

• lifting/carrying of heavy loads
• standing or sitting for long lengths of time
• exposure to infectious diseases
• exposure to lead or other chemicals
• work-related stress
• workstations and posture
• exposure to radioactive material
• threat of violence in the workplace
• long working hours, shift or night work
• excessively noisy workplaces.

Emergency procedures and first aid

You will need to make sure you have procedures in place to ensure the safe evacuation of pregnant women and that they are communicated to the employee.

You should also check that you have appropriate first aid equipment, that employees know how to obtain first aid and where the rest facilities are located.

How can System Concepts help?

If you would like to find out more about maternity risk assessments, risk assessment training courses or would like help with conducting maternity risk assessments in your organisation please contact Joanne Hare at joanneh@system-concepts.com