Regulation 16 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires an employer whose work could involve risk to a new or expectant mother, or to her baby, to include that risk in the assessment. The duty covers pregnancy, having given birth within the previous six months, and breastfeeding, and it is a general duty on the work rather than one that only starts when a particular employee tells you she is pregnant.
Two duties, at two different moments
The general assessment considers whether the work involves risks to any new or expectant mother, and it is done whether or not anyone is currently pregnant. The individual action is triggered when a specific employee notifies the employer in writing that she is pregnant, has given birth in the last six months, or is breastfeeding. Employers who wait for the notification before thinking about it at all have already missed the first duty.
What the assessment covers
Physical agents such as manual handling, vibration, noise, shocks, extremes of heat and cold, ionising radiation and prolonged standing or sitting. Biological agents including rubella, toxoplasma and other infections relevant to the work. Chemical agents including lead, mercury, cytotoxic drugs, pesticides and substances labelled as harmful to the unborn child. And working conditions such as night work, long hours, stress, lone working and travel.
The three steps the regulations require
Where a risk cannot be avoided, regulation 16 requires the employer to alter her working conditions or hours of work if it is reasonable to do so and would avoid the risk. If that is not reasonable or would not avoid the risk, suspend her from work on paid leave for as long as necessary. Regulation 17 deals with night work where a medical certificate says night work would affect her health. The order matters, and pay follows suspension.
Doing it as a conversation rather than a form
The useful version is a discussion with the individual, revisited as the pregnancy progresses, because what is manageable at twelve weeks may not be at thirty-two. A template completed once at notification and filed is the version that fails, because the risk changes over time and the assessment is supposed to change with it.
Questions people ask about pregnancy risk assessment template
When does the pregnancy risk assessment duty start?
The general duty to consider risks to new and expectant mothers applies to the work at all times. The individual duty to act is triggered when the employee notifies the employer in writing.
What counts as a new or expectant mother?
An employee who is pregnant, who has given birth within the previous six months, or who is breastfeeding.
What if the risk cannot be removed?
The employer must alter her working conditions or hours where reasonable, and if that will not avoid the risk, suspend her from work on paid leave for as long as necessary.
Does the assessment have to be repeated?
It should be reviewed as the pregnancy progresses and after the return to work, because the risks and what is manageable both change.