To refuse to lift anything at work

[Reallytired]

I am 26 weeks pregnant, nearly 27 weeks. My back is killing me and I got pains down my legs. I work as an ICT technician.

My boss asked to unpack some new PCs and set them up. I got the (very kind) assistant caretaker to get the PCs out the boxes for me. Unfortunately he managed to scratch one of the new PCs. My boss is furious with me and feels that I should not have asked the assistant caretaker for help.

I think that my boss should go and get a life. Accidents happen and I am sure that the assistant caretaker did not mean to scratch the case of the PC. Anyway its better than my back being wrecked and the PC case would probably get battered by the kids within days anyway.

Have you had a risk assessment? Because you certainly should have! And one of the things on the risk assessment should be that you should NOT be lifting heavy objects!
Your boss is massively out of order.

well, i think it would be unreasonable to say you won't lift anything but it certainly is not unreasonable to say you will not be lifting heavy objects,.

BT is right, you should have had a risk assesment. there are def rules about this kind of thing because I was banned from lifting heavy boxes at work when I was pg! lol

I was also going to ask if you have had a risk assesment.

some good info here

note especially: Employers should take action to ensure that their workers, who are or in the future could be a new or expectant mother, are not exposed to any significant risk.

manual handling is mentioned several times lower down in the piece

you should also refuse to life anything which you feel can be dangerous to your health.

I would have thought the caretaker would have been the right person for the job. Trained and used to doing it.

should have been risk assesed.

Yes with good reason - all that relaxin your body is producing to get you ready for your birth will mean you are more prone to muscle and ligament injuries and strains - hence why you are having problems with your back and legs.

PCs usually aren't very heavy at all now though, no more so than reasonably laden supermarket shopping bags. Have you told your boss that you've been having back and leg pains? If not and the PCs were the usual weight they are nowadays then he wasn't being unreasonable in asking you to set them up as he wasn't to know you are having difficulties. I hope you've told him so he knows he needs to get someone else to lift things for you now.

He should not have asked you and if something (god forbid) happened a lack of risk assessment would leave them right in it. Do not let him get to you a scratch on a pc is nothing compared to you doing you and baby damage.

I have a risk assessment that says I shouldn't lift anything. The risk assessment is purely to protect them, but I am still put under huge pressure to lift.

I have sciatica and its horrible, I am struggling to bend down or walk yet alone lift anything.

I was always of the attitude that "pregnancy isn't an illness", and to that end (and to my employer's despair) I worked pretty much as normal right through my pregnancy. I've now got SPD pain which I'm pretty much stuck with, nothing drastic but a permanently unstable pelvis. In fairness, I don't think it wasn't just lifting that did it, but climbing over gates and squatting a lot too. So, while I still firmly believe it's only right to do as much as you reasonably can, you have to protect yourself from longer term problems (which could mean expensive sick leave if you go back to work!).

I think you need to discuss your back problems with your boss and explain why you asked for help in the first place. Trying to be as helpful and compliant as possible while asserting your rights to safety at work is not easy to do, but it's what you should be aiming for.

I was always of the attitude that "pregnancy isn't an illness", and to that end (and to my employer's despair) I worked pretty much as normal right through my pregnancy. I've now got SPD pain which I'm pretty much stuck with, nothing drastic but a permanently unstable pelvis. In fairness, I don't think it wasn't just lifting that did it, but climbing over gates and squatting a lot too. So, while I still firmly believe it's only right to do as much as you reasonably can, you have to protect yourself from longer term problems (which could mean expensive sick leave if you go back to work!).

I think you need to discuss your back problems with your boss and explain why you asked for help in the first place. Trying to be as helpful and compliant as possible while asserting your rights to safety at work is not easy to do, but it's what you should be aiming for.

You're not being unreasonable IMHO!!!!

I used to work in IT and as soon as I realised I was pg with DS1 I told work, had a risk assesment and was told not to do any lifting with immediate affect. I was put on desk duties only, no crawling about on the floor cabling, no lifting anything heavier than a laptop. It was a bummer but totally right.

See your HR people, they should NOT be asking you to do this work!!!!!!

If you are unable to perform the normal duties of your job due to your pregnancy can't they insist you start your maternity leave and you're getting close to that time?

Not saying its fair but its something to consider before tackling them to head on.

ant - I don't think so I know paramedics go on light duties (ie not in the ambulances) as soon as say they are pregnant.

You cannot start maternity leave until 28 weeks. The only alternative is sick leave at the moment, or them to find something alternative for me to do.

Or if they cannot make your working environment they will have to suspend you on full pay

sorry just had a couple of queries as i'm not too educated on this area of employment/law.
what is the normal procedure in a case where a job involves a certain degree of physical exertion and the employee is now pregnant?i mean obviously thewoman has the right to work through her pregnancy, but what happens when it means she can't do her job propery (not talking about this case in particular but lets say something that would involve a degree of heavy lifting?)
whats the norm,do you relocate the employee for the duration of the pregnancy or do their co-workers have to pick up the slack?

and in this case if unloading and setting up pc's is part of the job description, then can you really call the manager unreasonable as surely if you turn up for work you turn up fit enough to do the job and should be expected to do the same amount as your colleagues.

as i said at the start these are questions borne out of ignoranceon the subject so i'm not suggesting anything of what i said is what should happen.

No great expert and I feel a little antagonised, maybe unfairly, by the comment 'fit enough to do the job' but this is my interpretation.

It would be rare for a work environment not to be able to offer some level of alternate work or sharring the lifting etc. i.e. if there are only two staff in the entire office and one is on the road and can't swap roles then no alternate is available.

Same amount of work as colleagues is I believe not an easy comparission because there are so many potential factors (quality, volume, average annual sickness, returns, other miscellaneous tasks conducted, it would be difficult to make this stand up in an employment tribunal.

The key phrase you use is 'part of the job description' which implies that the balance of duties should be able to be varied.

Co-workers and 'slack' concerns me. Teams should share workload fairly naturally with a little gentle management or you have inadequate management. No slack should be necessary just task redistribution so pregnant, not sick, unfit, incapable or subvalue employee does more setting up and not pregnant employees do a little more shifting of the PC's.