Posted By Bob Youel Your advisers are not the ones who end up in court etc - from personal experience - its you as the controller/employer who is in charge and its your risk assessment that dictates if somebody works or not - the others are only supports to the employer I look after many such suffers who work in high/medium risk areas without much trouble - reasonable adjustment comes to mind - biggest problem is where a seizure comes on without warning - as happens to one person I work with - the others all get some kind of indicator and the rest of the workforce -the person concerned can 'make-ready' Think logical and rational when undertaking your assessment - you may need fall over / stillness alarms etc [as we have] as one control - get all concerned involved and personal medical information will probably be needed and lone working may not be reasionable

Posted By garyh Depends on the person involved - talk to him or her and find out what happens in their case, and take it from there.

Posted By Glyn Atkinson Assumption - If the apprentice is indeed a trainee blacksmith, over 18, technically not in need of 100% supervision, has anyone thought of the scenario if the fit pitches him / her forwards into the hot coals instead of backwards to the floor or via the anvil en route to the floor?

Posted By Seth Hi, As a sufferer of epiliepsy (without prior warning), I have found that a detailed individual Risk Assessment is required. You should utilise the sufferers knowledge of the condition (it was a bit easier for me, as I'm the safety advisor, therfore I could risk assess myself). Again this may be an assumption, but from personal experience I would think that the sufferer would be well aware of the potential harm and would do their upmost to avoid this i.e. full co-operation and honesty. I must admit that I have been a victim of bravado (trying to defy all guidelines that specialists recommended) but I think this is maybe a denial or sheer determination not to be affected (be normal) by the condition. Maybe you could consult the sufferers specialist/consultant for additional information. It is difficult to guard against seizures with no prior warning as the first thing the sufferer is aware of is lying on the floor feeling very confused. To set the scene, try imagining walking down the street - next thing - a crowd of people asking if you're ok and you've not a clue what's going on. Other side effects can be severe headaches, temporary paralysis, loss of speech. This response probably doesn't answer your question but, hopefully gives you insight to the sufferers point of view. Best regards Seth

Posted By LTN I'm reviewing a situation where this suspected condition is undeclared and following an incident I've been told that the individual says that their condition is unconfirmed and they are reluctant to go to OH because there is still a stigma surrounding it - a case of culture differences I think. In this case, I am assessing it with as much information as I can get from the individual.