What health and safety laws should my employer follower or abide with. — Scope | Disability forum
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What health and safety laws should my employer follower or abide with.

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eddllanfaes
eddllanfaes Community member Posts: 5 Connected
edited May 2018 in Work and employment
yo hi i have epilepsy and i work in retail on the shop floor and I keep being left on my own with no one first aid trained near us.  Can u please confirm what is the laws and rules with regarding my condiction.  As I'm sure my employer is breaking them please advise thanks

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  • Geoark
    Geoark Community member Posts: 1,463 Disability Gamechanger
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    Hi @eddllanfaes there are no specific laws or rules as such for epilepsy.

    Your employer does have two obligations towards you if they are aware of your condition.

    The first is to do a risk assessment. As a result of the risk assessment there may be a need to make reasonable adjustment, but this would depend on the individual.

    The second is to have a care plan. This would include what action to take, when to call for medical help and which family member or other contact to inform.

    With regards to the first aider, it is recommended that colleagues are made aware of what actions are to be taken so that they feel confident in what to do when a seizure takes place.

    You should be aware of the risk assessment and any recommendations it makes to reduce your risks. Health and Safety is usually a two way street, you have responsibilities as much as your employer. So if as a result of the risk assessment it either states or recommends you do not use specific equipment then you should not use it. Similarly if asked to do something which the assessment says you should not then let the person giving the instruction know this.

    With regard to being left alone, is this in a secluded place where you cannot be seen by anyone? For example this could include a store room, or taking a break on your own.

    A couple of quick questions,

    Have you discussed your concerns with your manager?
    Has there been an incident at work which has caused concern for you? 

    Risk concerns should be reviewed at regular intervals, this should be appropriate to the circumstances, this could be annually or longer, if there are changes to your condition and its management, or if something unforseen has occurred.

    The following link is aimed at employers but you might find it useful: https://www.epilepsysociety.org.uk/information-employers#.Wv0dOOq5uUk

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