Update

[michellem30]

So the update on my work is that apparently there has been a risk assessment done over 2 weeks ago and no one told me. Am i not supposed to be present when a risk assessment is done?! I got another 2 weeks off so will go back after that. If works are supposed to be supportive, mine are making me feel stupid and guilty for being off.

[Suzy890]

Hmm, a lot of employers can get funny about the thought of having to make allowances for pregnant women, and having to pay maternity. Thing is they do legally have to make allowances for the saftey of you and your baby, and they get to keep a percentage of the money they give to you as it all gets reimbursed by the government anyway! im not sure if you need to be there when they do the risk assessment, but you are well within your rights to see the risk assessment to make sure you are comfortable with it and its up to the legal standards. My employer tried making me feel uneasy about having time off, but I snapped and told him straught, he either deals with it or he will have one hell of a law suit on his hands. I also found it helped when more people knew about my pregnancy as I had more backup. I hope things ease up for you, its a horrible feeling xx

[michellem30 in reply to Suzy890]

Thanx i really appreciate it.

[luckyclucky]

I work in a health and safety consultancy and have asked my husband who is a health and safety advisor about this and are advice is that at the very least you need to have read through and signed the risk assessment to say that you agree with what is being said. It should not just be a tick box document, it should be specific to your job and takes in to account all the tasks that you undertake. Ideally it should be done with your involvement as you know your job best, we all know that job descriptions are not black and white and we do a lot more than our job descriptions say. It should be a working document, which means that as your pregnancy progresses, you should review it as things that are safe and suitable for you to do now may not be so when you have a big bumpy. Please look here gov.uk/working-when-pregnan... (sorry they have changed it in the past couple of weeks otherwise I could direct you to a more specific part of the site but I am still finding my way around!)

Speak to your employer, they may think they are doing you a favour by "doing it all for you" behind your back but you need to be involved in the process for it to be an effective risk assessment. Try not to feel guilty, I don't know the reasons behind your time off but if you medically need it then guilt will just make you feel worse. If you are off because they have not provided a sufficient risk assessment for you to return to work then that is not your fault. Speak to your employer about any concerns you have, they have a duty to sort work with you towards sorting them out so you can return to work. Hope that helps.x

[michellem30]

Thank you this helps alot. It's all new to me with it being my first. I had been bleeding and a urine infection, hence why the doc signed me off aswell as the risk assessment issue. I hope all goes well too xx

[luckyclucky]

ok well DEFINITELY no feeling guilty then! I know its easy to say that but you have been given medical leave for yours and your little ones benefit so don't use that time by worrying and stressing yourself out. I still recommend speaking to your employers and telling them how you feel, its always awkward tackling thins like this head on but you will worry about it otherwise. They may appreciate you coming to them and saying you want to work together on this.

If they still need help carrying out a proper risk assessment I can recommend a good safety consultancy to do it for them Sorry my jokes are in terrible taste!

Or if they head to the HSE page they will be able to find some direction there, it can be a bit full or jargon but really they just need to analyse what you do day to day and write down the risks and what they are going to do about it.

Hope that you get some answers from them and that they are positive.x

[Envgirl in reply to luckyclucky]

Hi, just wanted to add to this one. Luckyclucky is right. It is not legally binding if you do it agree to it and ideally it should have been signed by you, so they can prove that you seen/agree to it. They should discuss the following: temperature changes, how close you are to the toilets, breaks or somewhere ideally quiet you can go such as a first aid room, any chemicals you may work with, if you drive for work, manual handling and even DSE assessments should be looked at/adjusted if you use a computer. If you do shift work this also may need adjusting. If you have any further questions once you have seen it post back for some independent h&s advice. You should always have a specific risk assessment when you are pregnant no matter if you have an easy pregnancy or one with slight bleeding. hope this helps X