Posted By Terri Cox I can sympathise with your suggestion, as a sufferer myself I have been bothered for the first time in years. It is certainly something that could potentially increase risks in specific areas such as manufacturing, working with plant/machinery, driving etc. A point to also consider is that quite a lot of the over the counter medication can cause drowsiness and have affects when mixed with alcohol. I would recommend that employers make themselves aware of where risks may be increased and of those workers who are affected and ensure that they are alert to any medication that could also affect the risks within their workplace.

Posted By Sarah J Shaw This should be something that is covered through your Occupational Health info to employees. When you take staff on you should be telling them in your H&S induction to notify their manager of any change in their health condition which affects their ability to work and if they are on any medication prescribed or otherwise. It is hard to assess how bad someones hayfever is as it can be mild, but also extreme on occasions. Also the medication available over the counter affects people to differing degrees. Supervision should also come into the equation with supervisors aware of the potential problems in areas of risk eg FLT drivers and assessing as circumstances arise.