All pregnant employees are entitled to a health and safety risk assessment.

This will ensure that your working conditions do not put you or your unborn baby in danger. Things that might be risky include:

• Night-shift work.
• Noise. 
• Lots of travelling. 
• Working with dangerous materials like chemicals. 
• Very cold or very hot conditions. 
• Working with radiation. 

If there is a risk, your employer must do whatever is reasonable to prevent it.

If the risk can’t be avoided, your employer must offer you suitable alternative work, or you may need to change your working hours or conditions.

If there is no alternative work, your employer must suspend you on full pay.

You will need to tell your employer in writing that you are pregnant and ask for a risk assessment to be carried out. Speak to your supervisor/line manager about it. You may be asked to provide a certificate from your midwife or GP confirming your pregnancy.

If your employer isn’t being helpful, you can take matters further by calling the Health and Safety Executive on 0845 345 0055 or your local authority’s Environmental Health Department. You can also find answers to some frequently asked questions about working safely during pregnancy at www.workingfamilies.org.uk.

Find out more about pregancy health & safety in the workplace here.