I am a train dispatcher and I have been shielding due to covid. I am currently 21 weeks pregnant and due to return to work on the 1st August 2020. I am looking for some advice from anyone regarding being pregnant and being a train dispatcher? It’s something that hasn’t happened thatI am aware of at our company and would like to get some info off others where possible?
I’m due a risk assessment call in August and having an appointment via phone for an OH appointment.
Congratulations! It'll no doubt feel like a strange time to be bringing up a young'un with everything that's going on around coronavirus and suchlike, but the plus side of course is that he'll be too young to remember it all and will be able to enjoy growing up in the post-covid world.
Your earlier post pretty much covered all the areas which the risk assessment will take into account. The likelihood is your company will have a standard template which is adapted on a per-role and individual basis as required, this will support your manager in boxing off the main areas of risk, and you can always add any extra risks for your manager to consider as you see fit.
I must raise though, presumably you have already notified your employer that you are pregnant and have provided the certificate from your midwife to them? Therefore I am a little concerned by the fact you are due back on 1st August and yet you infer the risk assessment is not scheduled, other than for some time in August. I'm surprised that considering it's only 7th July now that there is not time to do this before you return to work. Have you asked your line manager whether you can do this earlier, before resuming on full duty?
I concur with previous posters that generally so long as the risk can be adequately be controlled then you'll be free to continue for as long as you want; you've identified some of your individual circumstances here which suggest that perhaps continuing on full duties may not be an appropriate course of action however, so I would encourage you to have a good open dialogue with your manager about what course of action you would feel best taking and the reasons behind this, and make mutually acceptable decisions from there. At the end of the day, as someone who is pregnant you are protected from discrimination on the grounds of your pregnancy by your employer under the Equality Act so there need be no worry through this process about being unfairly treated.