please help need some advice about my rights and unsuitable work in pregnancy...

[mustsleep]

ok so this is a little long so will apologise before hand

right i am now 22 weeks pregnant

i work as a cleaner in a school for two hours a night, there are 5 of us at work, but i am the only one that the supervisor makes work upstairs (which is two flights of metal tipped stairs) and in the outside classes which are also up four steps each

i have to carry the vac around up the and down the stairs and it's very heavy esp as i've gotton bigger, i also have to pull it around outside when its raining and even though i have pointed out to a number of teachers, people in the office my colleagues and supervisor nobody seems to think that there is a risk of electrocution

right i also have to carry heavy mop buckts etc, but everyone has to do this so while i would rather not do this i acceot that it is part of my job

right the vacuum carrying up the stairs thing i have said on a number of occasions that i would like to swap sections as mine is the only section invloving stairs and while the vac is heavy it is also just hard for me to get up and down the stairs as my bump is pushing into my lungs making me feel breathless, i have also had dizzy spells and passed out at home so i do not feel safe on the satirs at work, my biss refuses to move me from this section even though there are other employees more suitable to takeit over until afetr i have had my baby

i have also not had a risk assessment and whn i asked for one i was laughed at by my supervisor and an employee from the office, to my knowledge nonone has carried one out for me

none of the epuiment we use has been electrically tested and we do not have a COSH book even though we work with floor stripping chemicals

i have just been off work with a bad back for two weeks brought on from heavy lifting, but have been told by a colleague that when i return to work i will have o work upstairs still as no one else wants to!! although she said my supervisor would carry the vacuum for me, although she has said this before and only does it for a day and then doesn;t bother

i am due to return to work today and am really dreading it but cannot leave as i really need the money, my supervisor has also been going around telling evryone that i will not be coming back after my maternity leave finishes even though i have told her on numerous occasions that i will be

the only thing i can thnk of to do is go back to the docs and see if i can get another sick note or to start my maternity earlier than i wanted to (11 weeks before my due date)

does anyone have any advice about what i do

also can she make me work on the steps if the heavy lifting issue is removed or can i demand to be removed from that section?

please any help would be very very appreciated and again i apologise for the super long post

well, if you call that other number below first (it'll be in confidence, I@m sure), you#ll know your legal situation, you could then call her office and tell them politely what the sitation is and asking, v firmly, for a risk assessment.

mustsleep you are being treated appallingly. You've had good advice from everyone, just to reiterate, your employer must

Do a risk assessment for you and identify anything which could be a risk to you during your pregnancy

Make adjustments to your job so that it's safe, or

Find you some different work to do which is safe or

as a last resort, sign you off on full pay until you start your maternity leave. This would not be as sickness.

It does sound as though it should be relatively straightforward to make adjustments to your job, so that's what they must do.

Do what everyone's said, complain to the relevant people who (I hope and expect) will be horrified and will rectify the situation immediately.

It sounds as though your immediate boss is a bully as well as being clueless about how you should be treated during your pregnancy. Under normal circumstances I would recommend considering a grievance, but actually there's not that long to go until your maternity leave starts and I would say your priority at the moment is getting through the next few weeks as smoothly as possible with as little stress as possible for you and the baby, so focus on that for now.

I hope you get it sorted quickly.

When I had my risk assesment done I was there, and part of the process, I dont know if this is standard, but if it is then they probably havent done one if you dont know anything about it?

ok i have done it she said she didn't know who it was exactky that dealt with it though ad is going to find out for me

she says it may be education leeds or the school itself or leeds city counil risk department so should have a few to go at anyway, she is ringing me back later

thanks again will let you know how i get on but it looks like i will have to go in tonight anyway

I agree with everyone's advice but especially the advice about joining a union. Unison will look after you and will give you good legal advice over the phone and will be able to represent you if things go horribly wrong (which hopefully they won't!).
Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy

did it go OK?

hi thanks was just givig it a few days as wanted to see how things were going to be

right well anyway she has got someone else in for an hour every night to do upstairs now as no one wants to do it (although in fairness she was expecting me to do it in half an hour)

i have only been given the easier jobs and everyon else has been given extra to do instead as she has realise dthey weren;t pulling their weight before

because i hve been off she has realised how much i was doing even though i have told her this before

i am still however awaiting my risk assessment and someone from hr should be caling me today about that

Sounds a bit more positive mustsleep, that's good.

Fingers crossed you get your proper risk assessment shortly as well.