Are Current Health & Safety Precautions Effective For Expectant Mothers?

Posted 7 years ago

Last year, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) conducted a survey which found that as many as 1 in 25 expectant mothers had to leave their jobs because health and safety concerns were not being addressed.

The survey also found that 38% of the 3254 women asked had not been spoken to by their employer about potential workplace risks; 19% had even found dangers that their employers had not.

Publishing their findings in the report, Pregnancy and discrimination in the workplace, recommendations for change, they called on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to do more to raise awareness of the dangers faced by new and expecting mums and the need for employers to communicate openly with them, in an effort to eliminate these dangers as soon as possible.

HSE Updates Pregnant Workers’ Guidance

In response to this, the HSE has updated its guidance in INDG373 New and expectant mothers who work: A brief guide to your health and safety, to highlight the need for continual and open communication.

To increase its accessibility, they’ve also made their Risk Assessment Action flowchart available as a standalone document. It can now be downloaded from the HSE New and Expectant Mothers homepage and in the FAQ.

The EHRC said they “welcome[d] the HSE’s revised guidance”, whilst the House of Commons Women and Equalities Commission called on the HSE to go further – asking them to implement new rules requiring employers to carry out individual risk assessments when a woman announces she is pregnant and to take greater responsibility in enforcing compliance with these rules.

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