Railway Career with Pre Existing Condition

[Mcv378]

Would having HIV affect my employability at all? I'm talking about applying for a station staff role.

I applied for platform staff with an operator in 2007 but was made to withdraw my application by my Job Advisor who told me that nobody would ever accept my application as it could likely lead to a risk to people's health (yes, really)

Obviously since then I've performed other customer facing roles, but as railways are a passion of mine it's a career I'd love to know if I would be able to at least apply to.

In terms of my health, I take one pill a day with no side effects.

 

[E16 Cyclist]

Short answer is it shouldn’t but working on the platform is a safety critical role and you may have to declare what medication you’re taking in case it comes up in a med screen

So the issue is more the medication than the condition, and there’s people who drive trains who take medication for blood pressure and things like that.

As long is it’s controlled and the medication causes no side effects which you say it doesn’t then as long as you’re up front (don’t worry it is confidential) you shouldn’t have any issues so go for it

 

[PupCuff]

Unless you have some significant complication with the treatment (and modern HIV medication is very well tolerated by most) there will be no issue with having HIV in any railway role.

The medication will need to be declared and the condition disclosed and discussed on your medical, but things across the whole of society are far better than they were in 2007 and there will be no problem, there are many rail staff with HIV across a broad range of roles in the industry.

 

[driverd]

Would having HIV affect my employability at all? I'm talking about applying for a station staff role.

I applied for platform staff with an operator in 2007 but was made to withdraw my application by my Job Advisor who told me that nobody would ever accept my application as it could likely lead to a risk to people's health (yes, really)

Obviously since then I've performed other customer facing roles, but as railways are a passion of mine it's a career I'd love to know if I would be able to at least apply to.

In terms of my health, I take one pill a day with no side effects.

Absolutely wouldn't affect the role nowadays. Luckily, both the world and the railways have moved on a lot since 2007. I know of plenty of HIV+ drivers as well as plenty of us on PrEP.

Basically, the approach is usually that you have to be medically restricted for anything from 48 hours to a week or so if you take any new meds to ensure no side effects (period of restriction depends on what the meds are etc). As long as you’re fine, you crack on. I'd imagine this would only affect you if your meds changed.

If you do go for it, all the best! You condition shouldn't hold you back

 

[Bayum]

And don’t forget, you have protections under the disability and equality act should your diagnosis become a point of contention for whatever reason.
You shouldn’t have to, but you can choose who to disclose your status to, as long as any medication is declared as you know. If there is any concern, remember U=U and transmission is only possible via certain bodily fluids - very few of which will be present in a rail focussed role.
AIDSmap, THT etc are all really good points of interest for discussion and questions around HIV and employment.