Posted By JAI Thoughts on the local hospital coming on site to extract blood from willing staff my thoughts are on the length of rest period after giving blood before alowing staff to return to work heavy industry lots of hazardous environments Jai

Posted By Dazmo Hi, I'm a regular blood donor and go straight back to the office afterwards with no problems. However I think the NBS say those in hazardous occupations, i.e. machinery operation, driving large vehicles etc should not really return to work until the next day, especially if they have not donated before. Probably best to check with them....see www.blood.co.uk/ for the contact details. Good luck with the donation! It's really not that bad and they give you free cookies and orange squash afterwards! Dazmo

Posted By Lynne Ratcliffe Seek advice from the blood transfusion service, They are the experts in this field and whereas to you it may be a can of worms to someone else it is a lifesaver!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted By Fred Pratley We've had the blood donor service visiting at least twice a year for 10 years or so, and we are a factory with machines and forklifts, although not "heavy" industry as such. In all this time, only 1 incident has occurred as a result of their visits. This involved a big 6'2" well built (male) employee who fainted. He also manged to knock over a tall display fridge full of ice-cold soft drinks. Well, it was during one of the very hot summers a few years ago, and it was his 1st ever visit, and he had been standing in the queue for about 15 minutes (Very busy session!)waiting to sign up. So our experience is, apart from one person with a large dose of embarrassment, you get them back as fit as when they go in. These days the blood service is very aware of "time away from work", and one thing to take care of is arranging for appointments to be kept! Regards Fred

Posted By Robert K Lewis Merv Have to contadict you, Mr Tony Hancock assured the nation a pint was a whole armful!:-) Bob

Posted By Jonathan Breeze JAI, Just to reiterate what others have said, giving blood is a good thing and should by no means be banned due to "elf'n safety". Just a thought, but why not arrange it for at or near the end of the shift and arrange for the NBS minibus that usually accompanies, to take them home. That way the staff get to give blood and the company can be reassured that it's employees were not putting themselves or others at risk.

Posted By Andy Petrie I would ask that people who are giving blood for the first time only do light duties for the rest of the day. I know the first time I gave blood it was a bit wird afterwards, I also know others who've felt the same first time round.