Pregnancy at Work

1 IntroductionThis section seeks to give practical adviceto employers on complying with thePregnancy at work Regulations, whichform part of the Safety, Health and Welfareat work (General Application) complying with the regulations, youensure that the workplace does not pose arisk to the health of a pregnant employeeor her developing child. The risk assess-ment is the basis for deciding if there arearticles or substances in the workplacethat could impact on both and the measures to be taken to avoid any injuryor ill do these regulations apply?The Pregnancy at work Regulations applyfrom the time an employee informs youthat she is pregnant, has recently givenbirth or is breastfeeding and provides anappropriate medical certificate. As the earliest stages of Pregnancy are the mostcritical ones for the developing child, it isin the employee s best interest to let youknow as soon as possible that she is pregnant and employers should encourageearly notification for this legislation provides protectionduring this period?

2 The Maternity Protection Acts 1994 and2004 give details onnEntitlements to maternity to clinic of job and safety and safety to encourage should I do when I become awarethat an employee is pregnant?Please see Section 2 of this Toolkit on thefive-step risk assessment becoming aware that an employee ispregnant, you must assess the specificrisks from the employment to thatemployee and take action to ensure thatshe is not exposed to anything that woulddamage her health or that of her developing are the main hazards for a pregnantor breastfeeding employee?General hazards include:nPhysical shocks,including direct blows to the of the whole body; there are guidelines on a load; there are guidelines on handling ;there are guidelines on heat or and postures that are abruptorsevere or give rise to excessive agents, including viruses,bacteria ,including substances thatcause cancer,mercury,anti-cancer drugs and carbon and/or atWork Workplace Health Toolkit to Assist Small Businesseswork where the risk of such contamination is information on statutory dose limits, contact the RadiologicalProtection Institute of Ireland, whichenforces legislation on ionising are the risks from non-ionisingsources?

3 Pregnant or breastfeeding women areat no greater risk than other employees when working with opticalradiation. Exposure when working withelectromagnetic fields and waves within current recommendations is notknown to cause harm to the mother orthe developing , extremeover-exposure to radio-frequency radiation can raise body temperaturemaking the pregnant extremes of cold or heat affectpregnant employees?When pregnant,women tolerate heatless well and may be liable to heatstress and fainteasily. Breastfeedingmay be impaired by specific problems arise from working in extreme cold but warmclothing should be should take great carewhen exposed to prolonged heat atwork,for example when working nearfurnaces. Rest facilities and access towater would the risk assessment indicatesthat there will be no injury to theemployee or the developing child,pregnant employees must not work inor with:nPressurisation unless adequately and lead mine physically demanding tasks,such as heavy noise be a risk?

4 There are no specific risks from noise tonew or expectant mothers or to thedeveloping child but prolonged exposureto loud noise may lead toincreased blood pressure and are no particular problems forwomen who have recently given birthor who are breastfeeding. Compliancewith the Noise at work Regulationsshould be sufficient to meet the needsof new or expectant risks from radioactive(ionising radiation) sources?Significantexposureto ionising radiation is harmful to the a pregnantor breastfeedingemployee works with ionising radiationsources, these can cause exposure tothe developing child through ingestionor via contamination ofthe mother sskin and transfer across the placenta orby breastfeeding to the baby. work procedures should be designed tokeep exposure as low as reasonablypracticable and certainly below thestatutory dose limitfora pregnantwoman.

5 Pregnant or breastfeedingwomen should notbe employed inWhat biological agents are harmful topregnant employees?It should be stated that in many workplaces there are no biologicalagents and therefore this will not bean biological agents are known tocause abortion of the foetus, or physical and neurological agents are included in hazardgroups 2,3 and 4 of the BiologicalAgents Regulations 1994 and biological agents within thesethree hazard groups can affect thedeveloping child if the motherbecomes infected during of such agents are: rubella,hepatitis B, HIV, herpes, TB, syphilis,chickenpox and hazard groups 2, 3 and 4?A group 2 biological agent is onewhich can cause human disease,mightbe a hazard to employees although it isunlikely to spread to the communityand in respectof these there is usuallyeffectivetreatment group 3 biological agent is onewhich can cause severe human disease, presents a serious hazard toemployees and may present a risk ofspreading tothe community,althoughthere is usually effective group 4 biological agent is onewhich causes severe human disease, isa serious hazardto employees,maypresent a high risk of spreading to thecommunity and in respect of whichthere is usually no atWork Workplace Health Toolkit to Assist Small Businessesthe level set down in the ChemicalAgents Regulations and CarcinogenRegulations.

6 There may be no risk inpractice to a pregnant employee or herdeveloping child. It is your respons-ibility to assess the health risks toemployees arising from working withhazardous do the risk phrases mean?The risk phrases mean:R40:possible risk of irreversible :may cause :may cause heritable genetic :may cause harm to the :possible risk of harm to theunborn :may cause harm to pregnant employees need to stopworking at a display screen?Pregnant women do not need to stop working with display screenequipment(DSE).Is working in pressurised enclosures arisk to pregnant employees?Pregnantemployees should notworkin compressed air. People who work incompressed air are at risk of develop-ing compression illness due to freebubbles of gas entering into the bloodcirculation system. It is not clearwhether pregnantwomen are more atrisk than any other employee engagedin this work but such gas bubblescould seriously harm the developingchild.

7 For those who have recentlygiven birth there is a small increase inthis is no physiological How can a pregnant employee avoidthe risks associated with these hazardgroups?The risk assessment will take accountof the nature of the agent, how likelycontact is and what control measuresare in place. Control measures mayinclude physical containment, hygienemeasures or the use of available vaccines if exposure justifies this. Ifthere is a known risk of high exposureto a highly infectious agent, then thepregnant employee should avoid exposure I responsible for carrying out a riskassessment of all biological agents? the duty of an employer toassess any risk to the health and safetyof employees resulting from any activity in the workplace likely toinvolve a risk of exposure of anyemployee to a biological agent.

8 Youmustdetermine the nature, degree andduration of any employee s exposure toa biological agent and lay down themeasures to betaken to ensure thesafety and health of such be noted thatin many work -places there will be no biologicalagents chemical agents are known toendanger the health of pregnantemployees?There are abouteight hundred substances labelled with risk R40, R45, R46, R61, R63, R64 (seequestion belowfor meaning of individual risk phrases).The risk assessment will determine the presence of a particular substance inthe the exposure is belowreason why a breastfeeding mothershould not work in compressed about diving while pregnant?Pregnant employees are advised not todive at all during Pregnancy due to thepossible effects of exposure to a hyper-baric environment on the developingchild.

9 Pregnancy is viewed as a medicalreason not to happens if a risk cannot beremoved?nIf the risk assessment reveals a risk to the pregnant employee, the developing or breastfeeding child,and itis notpractical to ensure the safety or health of the employee through protective or preventive measures,you must adjust the employee s working conditions or hours of work or this is not possible, you mustprovide suitable alternative you cannot provide suitable work ,you should facilitate granting the employee health and safety leaveunder Section 18 of the Maternity Protection Act1994 (see over).Arethere restrictions on night work forpregnantemployees?If an employee during Pregnancy andthe fourteen weeks immediately following childbirth is regularlyinvolved in night work for a period ofatleastthree hours between or at least 25 per cent ofher monthly working time is performed in thatperiod,and she hasa medical certificate stating that thismay damage her health, she must befound alternative daytime work .

10 If thisWorkplace Health Toolkit to Assist Small Businesseswages for the first three weeks, afterwhich health and safety benefit will bepaid by the Department of Social andFamily can I get information on maternity leave?Maternity leave information can beobtained from the NationalEmployment Rights Authority and theEquality can I getinformation on maternity benefit payments?Enquiries regarding maternity benefitpayments should be made to theMaternity BenefitSection of theDepartment of Social and is the HSA s role when dealingwith Pregnancy atwork?The HSA is responsible for enforcementof the Safety, Health and Welfare atWork Act 2005 and the Safety, Healthand Welfare at work (GeneralApplication) Regulations are advised that, in producing their safety statement, theyshould consider the possibility of Pregnancy among HSA also provides information onsafety, health and welfare protectionfor employees who are pregnant, haverecently given birth or are breast-feeding while working.