Risk Assessment in Office

[Kat92]

Hi everyone! I am now just over 8 weeks pregnant and I have been working from home since March (am an accountant), like a lot of us I would think.
I keep hearing on the news hints that everyone may be going back to work in the near future, although nothing has confirmed at my office yet.
Just wondering how everyone else is feeling about this? I would think my office would be relatively low risk but at full capacity I dont see how social distancing could be maintained. I have been speaking to my husband and I think I want a risk assessment to take place before I go back. Is anyone else feeling this way too? And how is everyone else feeling about potentially going back into office too?
I have my booking in appointment on Monday so will be asking midwife for more advice too then.

Could you wear a mask? Is there any reason that being in the office would be more productive than WFH? (ie. do they actually need you in?)

Tbh I’m 24 weeks and have been working (as a midwife) throughout. We wear PPE for patient contacts but it’s pretty much impossible to socially distance from colleagues in the office, at lunch, etc.

Lot of the ladies we see are teachers, shop assistants, nursery nurses etc. and are mostly still working. The risks to you and your baby are pretty minimal unless you have other health issues.

I’m 26 weeks and have been in the office for the first time this week. We’re at 50% capacity so social distancing is pretty easy, we’re a large open plan office usually. Felt completely fine about it, but then I’ve also been seeing friends and family, and I can’t cope being stuck in for another 14 weeks!

To be fair, I have been feeling just a bit rubbish the last few weeks and have been sick a few times during the day so at the moment I am preferring being at home. Theres no real reason why I would need to be back in office really. Prior to working from home, i had been signed off due to depression caused by a mc (was signed off for a month, went back for about 5 weeks, signed off for 3 weeks, and then went in just to get my computers to work at home) so I think I am just a bit generally nervous about potentially going back in.

Possibly try and negotiate WFH and some time in the office? Would your firm be open to this suggestion? Quite a few are happy to look at this. I do think though that you need to have some trust in your employer. Why wouldn’t they want to make it as safe as possible? I think decent employers will try their best but it’s wise to ask about toilet arrangements and any other areas which have constricted space. How will staff communicate? This sort of thing.

I work in an offixe and won’t be going back in. My work have been brilliant. There is no way I’m commuting on London public transport an hour each way to do work I can do from home.

They have said that from September a few people may be going in and it will then be a mix of WFH and Office so I think really it will be ok. I think partially i just really prefer WFH all the time! I will definitely ask what measures they have put in place, but may just ask in a more casual way than my OP suggests.

My work will be doing a risk assessment for everyone that wants to return to the office. They are starting to with those that have expressed a wish to be in the office rather than at home. We will have reduced office capacity and certain desks are off limits to allow for social distancing. If there are lots of people wanting to be in we will go to a rota system.

How do you get to work? That is more concerning to me than the office. I need to take the tube and that really scares me now.

At my work the last information I saw is that we were going to operate a traffic light system and group people - green (no children, no health issues) return quicker, red (pregnant or health issues) remain at home. But that was 2 months ago and things seem to change fast.

My plan is if we are asked to go back to the office is to go 50:50 and start early to avoid rush hour

My work have just started doing risk assessments. The only part relevant to pregnancy is a note to be more careful with social distancing after 28 weeks - this fits with everything else I've seen which says pregnancy in itself isn't a risk factor but there's a small increase in your chance of going into labor early if you do get CV after 28 weeks.

I think the risk assessment we're using is produced by the NHS (possibly NHS Wales) and might come up if you search for it. You could have a look then for how at risk you are and use that as the basis for any discussion with your manager on returning to the office?

Just marking my place here... Am currently wfh, and with recent proposals regarding changes to home working am feeling a bit unsure as to what's going to unfold in my own place of work.

Interesting article here states that employers have continuing, additional safety responsibilities toward pregnant staff members: www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jul/17/what-will-changes-to-englands-lockdown-rules-mean-for-me

I'm just curious as to whether this will mean some women feel they'll have to inform employers of a pregnancy much much earlier than they would under normal circumstances.

I think if the women wish to be a special consideration due to pregnancy, then yes. Not much an employee can do if they don’t know.

Employers have to balance the interests of staff and actually having a valid business. For example, WFH has exposed the fact that some of DHs staff cannot work effectively unsupervised. This is because they are training and work in teams. It’s been very difficult to work at home when decisions are critical. They are civil and structural engineers. It’s not acceptable for mistakes to be made due to lack of supervision from experienced engineers. This is why they are planning a partial return to offices. Not everyone can be effective WFH but often a middle way can be found.

Where companies find orders are not going to return to pre Covid levels for a long time, those who cannot work effectively are likely to be occupying the jobs that are no longer required. It’s inevitable.

I suspect owners of offices will now have gaping holes in their finances as office space needed shrinks. Never mind all the cleaners, coffee shops etc without trade.

@My0My some interesting points about business viability in the face of home working. You're quite right, it's not for all sectors, hope your husbands situation improves.
@Kat92 I don't think it's unreasonable to ask your employers what measures they're putting in place to ensure employee safety, I think everyone, pregnant or not, should be asking these questions if they're unsure!

Some of DHs employees want to go back. Fed up with their children! Want to talk “one to one” about work and problem solving. They don’t want to wait for someone to say when they are free to have a “zoom” type conversation. They need to bounce solutions around. WFH on your own with no deadlines and little collaborative working is great. Designing engineering projects where detail is critical isn’t so easy.

Since the announcement I've been very nervous about going back in.

I also work in an office and have to travel to work via bus on one of the busiest lines in the city (and I'm in Leicester, within the still locked down areas).

I emailed the HR for guidance and she said that they needed time to digest the news and would take my comments on board.

I don't think our office is suitable for social distancing if we have full staff back, so I'm hoping they do a rota system.

I really hope I can stay working from home as it's not affected my productivity and I'm actually doing more hours for no additional pay. My manager agrees, but I don't know if she has enough influence to step in.

I drive in so it is relatively low risk. However, when things were "normal" people would often travel to different sites quite frequently but I doubt that will be happening for quite a long time.
Also previously, we did have people come in whilst sick (we always had the option to work from home on an occasional basis, but I cynically think it was a way to show they are "good" workers) and whilst I really don't think that will happen anymore, I think that's why I am a little nervous.
I previously had an awful line manager who refused at first to let a member of our team go home when he was concerned he had Covid symptoms (he did eventually just go home as he felt awful) when I was signed off. We do have a new manager now so I do feel a bit better but I think confirmation that noone will be in office if they feel unwell would make me feel more secure.