Employee withEpilepsy

Lisa

Maria has covered most eventualities, but I do want to emphasise the importance of a risk assessment. Everyone has a small risk of having a seizure, and if someone with confirmed epilepsy has been fit-free for more than around three years, their risk is approaching that of the general public. DVLA allow most people with epilepsy to drive once they have been free of fits (other than nocturnal fits) for over a year, so that gives a good perspective of the risk.

This means that, besides making adjustments for people at high risk of having fits, where there is only a low risk there are times when you are expected to allow that person to work normally and accept a low level of risk. Making unecessary adjustments could be discriminatory.

I have advised in a case where a well-meaning manager insisted that a member of staff with epilepsy should be accompanied whenever they walked around the workplace and wanted to insist that they wore a protective helmet at work because they had a fit at work a year previously and needed sutures to a head wound. The employee understandably resented both these adjustments and I advised that both were unecessary in the circumstances. The risk at work was no different to that in Tesco or on the train, and I advised that the employee should be allowed to accept the increased risk.

Any decision is ultimately up to the employer, but if in doubt do seek expert advice from occupational health.

I think that I have spotted the one 'loosing the plot' [sic]!!

Ok Maria brilliant soooo how about the risk assessment for the anti-social workplace?

For sure many modern SRI's medicate the more extreme levels of anxiety presenting in irrasible behavioural problems although, for many the line between hanging onto it and completely loosing the plot is significantly narrowed and flip point less predictable nevertheless, would one consider a more pro-social inclusive environment where positive regard for all reducing levels of approval deprivation reasonably practicable in order to mitigate the increased risk of performance anxiety ?

Have a 'good work' day folks.

Maria, absolutely spot on!

Dear Lisa, in this case you need to fulfil your obligations both under health and safety and under disability legislation.
Health and safety law does not prevent the employment of someone with epilepsy; however it does require that employers carry out a thorough assessment of the risks to health and safety of workers and others affected by the work. The Disability Discrimination Act makes it unlawful to automatically exclude a disabled person from a particular job because of their impairment, in this case their epilepsy; this is termed direct discrimination and cannot be justified in law.
In your question you do not state what are the risks associated with the employee’s job, however regardless of the hazardous activities involved, before modifying the area look at this case on an individual basis and assess properly the risks to health and safety, normally by putting in place a number of reasonable adjustments, as required by the Disability Discrimination Act, the risks identified in the assessment can be overcome with little reorganisation of the workplace.
Epilepsy affects each person in a different way, but a risk assessment might include asking the person the following questions:
What type(s) of seizure do you have?
How often do you have seizures?
How long do your seizures usually last?
What usually happens when you have a seizure?
How long does it usually take you to recover from a seizure?
What time of day do you usually have seizures?
Do you get a warning, also known as an ‘aura’, before you have a seizure?
With his/hers answers you will be able to put in place reasonable adjustment in the workplace.
You could request a specialist medical report that will assess the employee’s epilepsy and determined how controlled the illness is and help you identifying the annual risk of seizure recurrence.
To give you an idea of what can be expected you may want to consider relocate hazardous responsibilities to other members of the team, or if involves inspecting machinery reschedule activities to when the equipment is not operating, if the person usually has seizures within a short time of waking up, a reasonable adjustment may be to allow them to start and finish work later than other employees (this would only apply if the workplace is open during those hours). If the person’s seizures are always in an afternoon, you could make sure they do not work alone at that time (this would allow a colleague to offer help, if that was needed). As general rule it would not be suitable for a person who is still having seizures to carry out high risk activities: working at unprotected heights, near open water, with high voltage or open circuit electricity, with unguarded apparatus or machines, on or near moving vehicles, with chemicals, unguarded fires, ovens and hot plates, on isolated sites.
After the assessment the management team and the individual should both agree what reasonable adjustments are needed, and this must be review if circumstances changes (e.g. the illness worsens in the future or job activities changes), the target is that the residual risks to the applicant of accident or injury would be well below that accepted on a daily basis in activities such as driving, and the risks to others would be negligible.
Thanks and best regards Maria

What are the obligations of an employer if an employee has an epileptic fit? does the employer have to amend the work area for an employee that suffers from epilepsy?

Thank you.

Lisa