Posted By ronnie hindle mark we also employ a person with epilepsy,and we work with glass, what i did was to get written conformation from his Dr confirming that he is fit for work,and also to cofirm that his epilepsy is controlled by medication,we then did a 3 month surveilance on him and did my risk assessment then at this moment in time we have had no problems, he has worked for our company for 8 years now.

Posted By fats van den raad Mark One of the things I got involved in for my sins was crowd safety at venues of entertainment. Here I had a steward that suffered from photo-sensitive epilepsy. In these cases I have found that the employee will normally be very honest with you about what they can and cannot do. In this guy's case the sollution was relatively simple. We could not employ him inside the venue when shows using light displays or strobe lighting was featured. On these occasions this employee would be employed in a position outside the venue, away from the lights.On other events, such as sporting events, the lighting is relatively even, so he could be employed inside the venue. I suppose the main message is to involve the particular employee as much as possible in the process and listen to their views.

Posted By Clair Parfrey Mark - be aware that Epilepsey can be classified as a disability under the disability discrimination act 1995. I would advise that you speak to the individual and with their consent speak to or write to their doctor for confirmation and advice. you could also speak to the epilepsey support groups regarding situations that might trigger a fit. key point - speak to the individual

Posted By Mark Glynn Thomas Thanks to all who responded.

Posted By Liam Nolan Hi, As said in an earlier post, epilepsy is covered in Occupational First Aid courses. I remeber from mine that there is 3 types. Petit Mal, Grand Mal and Status Epilepticus (which is continuous fits, very uncommon, but life threatening). Petit Mal may resemble daydreaming, employee should not operate equipment that requires interaction etc. that may cause entrapment. Grand Mal is the one we all think of, where fits presentthemselves with a period of unconsciousness. This is the major form of epilepsy. 4 stages make up the Grand Mal:- Aura (the sufferer 'feels' a fit is to occur. Tonic (violent straightening of arms/legs etc.) Clonic (the fit stage) Postical (sleep indused by the fit and exertion of the attack). There are specific things that you do and don't do if someone is having an attack. I will not list them here because I am paraphrasing most of the above (not really room or time to go into details here). As the other posters have suggested look up the symoptoms and effects of epilepsy. Your Qualified First Aider should have some knowledge of it. My strong suggestion to you is to train his fellow workers (possible only the ones nearest him) in what to expect. I have never seen a fit take place, but have heard that a lot of the sufferers, when they feel the Aura stage, will head to the same place to have the other stages of the attack. Again my appoligies if I am incorrect in any of the above (I did check my course notes from my Occ. First Aid course while writing this post). Also the sufferer may try to run away after the fit, due to embarressment, etc. (I am unsure, but I seem to remember that control body functions may be affected, which would produce embarressment if you know what I mean, but I could be wrong about this). Also from the First Aid I seem to remember that you don't need to get qualified medical aid (for the Grand Mal attack) as it will run its course. This is of course once the sufferer has not been injured during the attack. i.e. striking objects, floor etc. The Status Epilepticus attach can be fatal as the sufferer cycles continuously through the second and third stages of Grand Mal. Again this is a brief description and I do stand to be corrected (or challanged on my ommissions). Basicly, as I said above train their co-workers in what to expect and do and, like all First Aid, what NOT to do. Liam