Post-traumatic stress disorder
After a traumatic event at work, many employers would think that offering a psychological debriefing session which aims to help a person find meaning after a stressful event to be an appropriate action demonstrating a caring and responsible employer. But recent draft guidance (to be published December, 2018) from the National Institute for Care and Health Excellence states that this intervention should not be offered as it potentially causes more harm.
The draft guidance supports access to peer support which should be –
- be facilitated by people with training and supervision
- be delivered in a way that does not risk re-traumatisation
- provide information, and help to access health and social care services
It also advises to be aware of placing people in environments which may trigger PTSD as this could exacerbate symptoms.
Within 1 month of the trauma adults with acute stress disorder, clinically important symptoms of PTSD or with a diagnosis of PTSD or of clinically important symptoms of PTSD offer individual trauma focussed cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Usually 8-12 sessions are recommended.
Valentine OH suggest that –
- You may want to consider your Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) provision to ensure that debriefing is not offered and that they are able to offer trauma focussed CBT on an individual basis.
- Work with us to understand symptoms of PTSD know when it is appropriate to refer to OH and understand more about the environment and re-exposure risks from employees jobs.
Equality Act employer discrimination liability
Employers can be found to be liable of discrimination due to something that arose out of consequence of a disability even if it was not aware of the causal link. This is a conclusion from the Court of Appeal (CoA) in City of York Council v Grossett where it was found that an employee made an error of judgement (found to be misconduct) due to stress from trying to balance work demands and the health needs arising from cystic fibrosis. The CoA stated that the law did not require the employer to be aware of causal links; that due to the cystic fibrosis the employee was under increased levels of stress.
Valentine OH guidance is –
- Refer to occupational health in cases of poor performance, unacceptable behaviour or inappropriate decision making and ask if these occurrences could arise in consequence of a disability as defined by the Equality Act.
Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions huge Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) Fine
Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions have been fined £500,000 plus costs of £195,000 after putting employees at risk of HAVS over a 9 year period – 2002-2011. The Crown Prosecutor stated the business had failed legal duties of keeping levels of vibration as low as is reasonably practicable (ALARP), failed to assess the risk to workers’ health, failed to put in place and monitor suitable risk control measures, failed to put in place a suitable system of health surveillance and failure to report to the appropriate enforcing authority (HSE) employees who were diagnosed with HAVS under Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations, 1995.
Valentine OH guidance is –
- make sure you understand the legal term as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP); this link is to the Health and Safety perspectives on this –
http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/theory/alarpglance.htm
- Know what levels of vibration your employees are exposed to and how these levels connect to the legislation which prescribes actions to be taken –
http://www.hse.gov.uk/vibration/hav/regulations.htm
- Work with Valentine OH to establish or review a health surveillance programme for HAVS.
- When OH report an occurrence of HAVS, review control measures to ensure they are ALARP (see above).
- Report any HAVS cases to the Health and Safety Executive it is an employer not OH or health professional legal duty to do so.
Data protection breaches and fines for the Crown Prosecution Service and a police force.
The fines were issued under the Data Protection Act rather than the new GDPR. The Court findings highlight simple errors in the way sensitive data was managed. Fines of £325,000 and £80,000 were made but if taken under GDPR would probably be higher, although the Information Commission Office is currently taking an educational approach.
The breaches were exposed as unencrypted sensitive data on DVDs were lost and identities revealed of abuse victims in an e mail where recipients’ e mail addresses were entered into the ‘To’ field rather than the ‘BCC’ field.
Occupational asthma fine – solder fume
A company has been fined £12,000 plus costs of £6,385 for not having adequate extraction and exposing employees to rosin based solder flux fumes causing occupational asthma in an employee.
In this case the employer thought they had adequate extraction but it was found that the equipment was not working sufficiently and was dispersing the fumes.
Valentine OH advise –
- Work with us to set up or review a health surveillance programme that monitors for early warning signs of occupational asthma.
- If early warning signs are flagged then check your risk control measures which would include checking extraction systems and document the checks.