THE BLOG WHAT'S NEW?

Epilepsy is a neurological condition affecting around 600,000 people in the UK — so it’s essential that every employer knows how to help those with the condition. Health, safety and ergonomics consultants System Concepts lay out the 10 key actions to take.

What every employer needs to know

The majority of people diagnosed with epilepsy are likely to be classified as disabled by the Equality Act 2010. This means that employers must make reasonable adjustments for people with epilepsy, and complete appropriate risk assessments.

There are many different types of epilepsy, but people who have it have a tendency to have epileptic seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of electrical activity in the brain, which causes a temporary disruption to the way the brain normally works. Seizures can range from the person remaining alert and aware of their surroundings, through to the person losing awareness and becoming stiff, falling to the floor and/or experiencing uncontrollable, jerky bodily movements.

If your organisation has an employee with epilepsy, these are the 10 key actions you should take.

1. Understand the nature of the condition. Have a private talk with the affected employee to discuss how the condition affects them. Ask about:
   • medication requirements (particularly at work)
   • how well their epilepsy is managed
   • type, duration and frequency of seizures
   • any associated musculoskeletal issues
   • any medication side effects
   • any warning signs that they are about to have a seizure.
2. Identify any triggers for seizures. This will help you work out how these can be eliminated or reduced to minimise the risk as much as possible. Consider:
   • temperature
   • light
   • stress
   • tiredness
   • flicker
   • season
   • whether the work is indoors/outdoors
   • computer screens, etc.
3. Understand the individual’s requirements during and after a seizure. Once you know these, you can ensure that appropriate provision is made, eg a suitable place for rest/recovery, such as a first-aid room with appropriate facilities. Questions to ask would include:
   • the likely recovery time
   • the individual’s preferences for recovery (location, need for sleep or rest, desire to be accompanied, ability to continue working, practicalities of recovering at work or home)
   • when paramedics are required or when first aiders should be able to manage the situation.
4. Develop a care plan. This should be an individual care plan that sets out the details of the above three points.
5. Consider allocating the person a dedicated locker. This would allow them to store items needed during/after they have a seizure (if not fully controlled by the medication). This could be used for:
   • their care plan
   • a breathable pillow
   • a blanket
   • any required medications
   • a spare change of clothes.

   Ideally, their line manager and first aiders would have a key to the locker for use when the individual is unable to access the contents themselves.

6. Organise the individual’s work. Working hours, tasks and the pace of work should all be evaluated to ensure:
   • targets and workload are manageable
   • lone working is avoided
   • driving is not required
   • shifts that might influence seizures or medication times are avoided
   • adequate breaks are given
   • there will be at least one first aider on site with the individual at all times.
7. Complete a DSE workstation assessment. This may indicate that certain equipment may be useful. Someone who has epileptic seizures is likely to require a:
   • LCD screen
   • fully padded chair with armrests, high backrest, headrest and braking system
   • padding around any hard surfaces or sharp corners (such as the desk)
   • wireless headset
   • large space around the workstation, free of any hazards (such as loose cables).
8. Ensure their safety in the workplace. Things to consider would include:
   • implementing a buddy system or asking the individual to wear a fall-activated or pendant alarm
   • reducing the need for them to use stairs, wherever possible (the importance of enforcing this is dependent on the nature and frequency of their seizures)
   • (with the individual’s permission) inform everyone who regularly comes into close contact with them about the nature of their condition and how to react in an emergency situation — this includes site first aiders, close colleagues, reception staff, canteen staff and security staff.
9. Provide easy access to an accessible toilet. If they are at risk of seizures, an accessible toilet offers more space and:
   • the risk of injury is reduced
   • they can use the alarm pull cord to request assistance, if needed
   • the door can be opened from the outside in the event of an emergency
   • how they will make their way to their nearest fire escape route
   • what assistance they will need to get to the nearest fire escape route
   • how they will travel down stairs to the final fire exit, including use of an evacuation chair and who is trained to use it
   • what assistance they will need outside of the office at the assembly point. Complete a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) for the individual.Epilepsy at work is a more common issue than you may have realised, and employers need to be aware of their responsibilities to help employees with this neurological condition.

Contact us should you require advice.

Health and safety legislation requires employers to take proactive steps to remove or reduce risk of injury to employees in relation to the use of display screen equipment (DSE) and manual handling activities. But aside from the legal responsibilities, there are good business reasons for employers to address MSDs in their workplace. Some of the main causes of MSDs include: vibration, poor posture, heavy lifting, repetitive tasks, poorly designed work areas, incorrect lifting techniques and pulling or pushing heavy loads. Studies have indicated that factors such as workload, lack of rest breaks and reduced recovery time have an impact on MSDs. So how should you manage MSDs in your workplace?

8 Top Tips for Preventing MSDs in Your Workplace

1. Adopt an ergonomic approach which involves the workforce and safety representatives.
2. Ensure management and workers have an understanding of the issues and are committed to action on prevention. This commitment may be expressed through strong leadership and having appropriate systems of work in place. You should thus develop a local policy on prevention and management of MSDs and ensure that everyone is clear about their responsibilities.
3. Managers and workers need to be competent in order to prevent MSDs. The HSE recommends that prevention of MSDs should be an integral part of health and safety training, with emphasis on risk factors and how these may be avoided.
4. Carry out a risk assessment in respect of MSDs, ensuring that all parties are involved in the process and that everyone is clear about their responsibilities in the risk control process.
5. Provide managers and workers with training and information on MSDs so they can assist in the identification of the early warning signs. Training should also include safe working methods, correct operation and use of equipment and the importance of reporting early symptoms of MSDs.
6. Following confirmation of an MSD, prompt action should be taken to review the risk assessment and to verify that existing control measures are effective. You must investigate work-related injuries as appropriate.
7. Carry out regular checks to ensure the risk control measures are effective. Where monitoring uncovers deficiencies within the risk management programme, a formal review of performance should be carried out.
8. Plan work so that there are breaks or changes in activity, especially where an employee works exclusively at a computer.

Failing to identify and manage musculoskeletal risks in your workplace may lead to enforcement action. Make sure you protect the health of your workers.

With new technological developments, high building rents, and a growing diversity in workers, increasingly businesses are finding new and innovative approaches to work. These include using your own device at work and flexible working processes such as homeworking.

Bring your own device to work

Bring your own device (BYOD) is a relatively new and increasingly popular workplace practice, where companies offer staff the opportunity to use their own devices at work. These devices include laptops, notebooks, tablets and smartphones.

Employees are often more familiar with their own devices and these are likely to be newer and more technologically advanced than those provided at work. For employers, the main advantage of BYOD is the potential to reduce their capital expenditure on IT equipment. In some of the firms where BYOD is common practice, employees use their own devices and the employer provides software enabling them to work securely from a virtual desktop.

The benefits of establishing a BYOD policy include:

• giving staff the flexibility of when and where they work (eg flexible working, working while commuting)
• motivating employees by giving them a choice over their work equipment
• empowering staff to take ownership of their work equipment (eg organising any warranty/repair agreements when they purchase their BYOD).

Modern devices, such as tablets and smartphones offer increased flexibility, with the ability to access emails and information outside of normal business hours and while away from the office. For employees who travel for work, the flexibility that BYOD offers can help them be more productive.

Like most good ideas, there are downsides to implementing a BYOD policy. The increased flexibility of being able to work outside of normal business hours brings additional health risks (ie increased stress due to not being able to “turn off” work), which senior staff will need to carefully manage.

For many employers, the primary concern is data security. If your organisation is considering BYOD, then you may need to look at where information is saved (eg on servers or devices), if anyone else apart from your employees access the BYOD devices (eg do family members share a tablet or home computer?) and what happens when devices are lost or stolen. Some organisations have implemented software that can remotely wipe records if a device is lost or stolen.

The introduction of new equipment can also present new risks, which employers need to assess and manage. Laptops, notebooks and tablets are all forms of display screen equipment (DSE) and as such, fall under Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992. Under this legislation employers must assess the risks and provide employees with information about any risks. This legal duty applies to any devices used for work; including employees’ own devices.

If your organisation has not yet used some of these new devices (eg tablets, smartphones), then there are a couple of points you may need to take into account.

• Employees who are unfamiliar with new technology may need training.
• Employees will need to be provided with information on the risks of a new way of working (eg “iPad neck”, repetitive actions, poor posture).
• The practicalities of whether BYOD is suitable for your organisation should be checked (eg are the devices easy to transport between meetings and are there enough plug sockets in the office for the new equipment?).
• The organisation’s DSE assessments must be reviewed.
• Procedures for testing electrical equipment (ie PAT testing) should incorporate any new devices that are introduced into the workplace.

Working from home

Home workers are covered by health and safety legislation in the same way as employees in offices. While working from home offers employees and employers many benefits, organisations have a duty of care to look after their staff, even if they are working from the comfort of their own home. These duties include:

• ensuring they have a suitable place to work (eg suitable lighting and furniture)
• ensuring that all work equipment is maintained in a safe condition
• undertaking DSE assessments

DSE assessments can be used to check the suitability of an employee’s home workspace and identify any actions. Where employees only have a sofa or dining room table to work from, a suitable desk and office chair (eg with five caster wheels and adjustable back support) may be required before they can safely work from home. If additional furniture or equipment is required before an employee can safely work from home, then it is important to discuss any actions with the employee to check whether they are practical and suitable.

When discussing home working it is important to consider how any equipment will be provided and maintained. Any electrical equipment (eg laptops, printers) will need to be regularly inspected.

If working from home is feasible, then there are many benefits for both employers and employees. These include:

• saving time and money spent commuting
• giving employees flexibility over their work
• reducing the headcount in the office saving on office overheads

Conclusion

In the modern office it is easy to see how BYOD and working from home could complement each other and offer a range of benefits to employers and employees. However, not all organisations are the same, so the pros and cons of any new approach need to be weighed up. If your organisation is considering any of these modern approaches, then it is important to talk to employees, plan ahead and carefully manage any changes in the workplace. There should also be time allocated to review the impact of these changes to see if lessons can be learned and whether further adjustments need to be made.