Epilepsy in the workplace

• Health and safety at work
• Risk assessments
• Care plans for seizures in the workplace
• Telling people you work with about your epilepsy
• Working with computers 
• Professional driving 
• Pensions 

Health and safety at work

The Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) means that all employers have to provide a safe workplace. They must protect all their employees from any possible danger to their health while they are at work.

As an employee, you also have a responsibility to take reasonable care of your own and other people’s health and safety at work. If your epilepsy poses a health or safety risk to you, your colleagues or anybody else, you must tell your employer about it. This is the law.

Health and safety restrictions

If you have uncontrolled seizures, there are some jobs that are not likely to be suitable for you, for health and safety reasons. These include working:

• at unprotected heights
• near open water
• with high voltage or open circuit electricity
• on or near moving vehicles
• with unguarded fires, ovens and hot plates
• on isolated sites.

Risk assessments

When your employer knows about your epilepsy, they will need to carry out a risk assessment. This is to identify any possible safety risks to you or other people in the workplace, because of your epilepsy. Your employer can use the information from a risk assessment to make reasonable adjustments in the workplace to make it safer.

As epilepsy affects each person differently and every workplace is different, it’s not possible to have set guidelines for risk assessments for people with epilepsy. Each person must be assessed individually for any potential risks to health and safety that they may face at work.

Here are some of the questions you may be asked during a risk assessment.

• What type(s) of seizure do you have?
• How often do you have seizures?
• How long do your seizures usually last?
• What usually happens when you have a seizure?
• How long does it usually take you to recover from a seizure?
• What time of day do you usually have seizures?
• Do you get a warning - also known as an ‘aura’ - before you have a seizure?
• Is there any part of the job that you are concerned about?

Possible changes or adjustments after a risk assessment

A risk assessment may identify that your epilepsy would have very little, if any, impact on the job you are to do. For example, your seizures may be well controlled. Or you may work somewhere that would be unlikely to be dangerous if you did have a seizure, such as an office. If this is the case, your employer may not need to make any changes or adjustments to make the workplace safer for you.

A risk assessment may identify that you have frequent seizures that can happen any time. This would make it dangerous for you to work near the hot stoves in a kitchen. Your employer may decide that it would be safer for you to work in a separate area of the kitchen, such as a dessert preparation area.

If you look after young children on your own, and you have uncontrolled seizures, this could be a risk to their health and safety. Your employer could make this situation safe by making sure that there are other adults around when you look after children.

A risk assessment may show that there is nothing your employer could do to make the situation safe. In this instance, for health and safety reasons, you would be unlikely to be able to do this part of a job. However, this could be reassessed in the future if you gained seizure control.

Access to Work

This scheme is available through your local Jobcentre Plus. Access to Work advisers can offer practical advice to employers and employees, to overcome any problems that may result from an employee’s disability. They can also make employers aware of a grant that is available towards any extra employment costs that result from a person’s disability. The extra costs may cover reasonable adjustments, such as buying special aids or equipment, or making adaptations to the premises or equipment.

For further information, contact the Disability Employment Adviser at your local Jobcentre Plus, who can put you in touch with an Access to Work adviser.

People who do risk assessments

Risk assessments may sometimes be done by the employer. In some cases it may be necessary for the employer to ask an occupational health professional to do the risk assessment. Here are some organisations that can arrange risk assessments:

• The Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
• Employment Medical Advisory Service (EMAS)
• Private health and safety consultancies

Changes to your epilepsy

If your epilepsy, or epilepsy treatment, changes at any time, your employer should do a new risk assessment. For example, if you withdraw from your anti-epileptic drugs, this could put you at a higher risk of having seizures. Your employer may need to make some new adjustments, to make sure that you and your work colleagues are as safe as possible.

Care plans for seizures in the workplace

If there is the possibility that you will have seizures at work, it is a good idea to prepare a care plan with your employer. The care plan can include information such as what happens when you have a seizure and how people can help you during and after a seizure. For example, you could ask to be allowed to recover in a quiet room after a seizure, before returning to work.

Telling people you work with about your epilepsy

It is up to you if you want your colleagues to know about your epilepsy. Bear in mind that, if people know about your epilepsy, they will usually feel more confident about helping you if you have a seizure.

Many people find that by being open about their epilepsy, their colleagues have a positive attitude towards the condition. If you think it would help, you could ask your employer to arrange some training for your colleagues to increase awareness and understanding of epilepsy. Epilepsy Action has a number of volunteers who can give epilepsy awareness presentations. Contact Epilepsy Action for more information.

Your employer can’t let other people know about your epilepsy without your permission. This is to comply with the Data Protection Act. If you do agree to let work colleagues know, you should sign a consent form. This would give your employer permission to tell one or more named individuals.

Working with computers

Most people with epilepsy use computers with no risk of them triggering a seizure. Very occasionally, looking at some older types of computer monitors may trigger seizures in people who have photosensitive epilepsy. This is a type of epilepsy where seizures are triggered by flashing or flickering lights. It’s estimated that around three to five people in every 100 people with epilepsy have photosensitive epilepsy. If you are unsure if you have this, your GP or neurologist should be able to tell you.

Anti-glare screens

These screens can help to reduce glare, but don’t reduce the flicker rate. For this reason, they don’t offer any specific benefit to people with photosensitive epilepsy.

Professional driving

Some people with epilepsy can apply for a licence to drive medium and large goods vehicles and large passenger carrying vehicles. To be able to do this, you must have been seizure-free and off medication for ten years.

• More information about driving

Pensions

If you have epilepsy, you are entitled to the same pension rights as any other employee. Your employer can’t exclude you from company schemes just because you have epilepsy. The equality laws cover pension services. You can get more information about pensions from The Pensions Advisory Service.