Your questions answered - April 24

Q: How can I best support my employees if they are faced with additional physical or mental stress while experiencing menopause?

Menopause can impact many aspects of a woman’s life, so it is important that employers are attuned to potential impact.

A House of Commons Committee reported that “Despite menopause being a natural part of ageing, there can still be huge stigma attached to it … This stops women from talking openly about their health and affects their ability to seek and receive treatment and wider support.” Menopause is therefore potentially a health and wellbeing concern for staff and needs to be handled sensitively.

In addition, Employers could face legal action if they fail to make “reasonable adjustments” for women who are experiencing menopause symptoms, under new guidance issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Perhaps the simplest first step is to ensure that you have a positive, supportive and open environment, wherein your employees can feel confident that they can address any issues. CIPD provides a useful guide to help support colleagues. www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/guides/menopause-people-manager-guidance/ 

It is worth bearing in mind that new guidance issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission means that employers could face legal action if they fail to make “reasonable adjustments” for women who are experiencing menopause symptoms.

Q: I have been asked to take on a new role at work, where everyday noise levels are much greater. I am now concerned about potential damage to my hearing; where can I find out my rights?  

Firstly, speak to your employer. Simply put, the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 (Noise Regulations 2005) require employers to prevent or reduce risks to health and safety from exposure to noise at work. They should have undertaken risk assessments and acted upon the results before asking you to undergo that work. They should provide hearing protection, as well as any additional information and training. The HSE is always a good reference point for issues like this one.

www.hse.gov.uk/noise/employers.htm 

Q: I am responsible for health and safety at work and would like to bring focus on to worker wellbeing. What is the best way to go about this?

This is a great idea! An integrated approach to employee safety, health and wellbeing can result in higher levels of engagement and productivity as well as creating good organisational culture and commitment. 

When embarking on a strategic initiative such as this, undertake an initial audit. An introductory wellbeing audit will provide the benchmarks you need to identify progress and success. The audit should lead towards a clear plan: include thinking around what policies you might need to introduce, what are your objectives, what will leadership need to consider, and what risk management will you need to introduce? 

Next, consider what steps you might need to take: will you need to introduce stress management, safe systems, employee support mechanisms, etc.? Benchmark your current positions on ill-health and absenteeism and have an idea of what you think progress should look like, what you would like to achieve.

Remember that your employer has a legal duty to protect your employees from stress at work, so ensure that your risk assessments are acted upon. To help employers eliminate or control the risk of ill health from work-related stress, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has developed a set of Management Standards.

Don’t forget to submit YOUR questions to policy@britsafe.org