Posted By seanie i work for a large government organisation, we have a member of staff who has an un-diagnosed heart problem, he is on beta blockers. he has to walk approx. 20 minutes to get to our building, we have requested a transfer for him to another building which would require no walking at all on medical grounds, but the request was denied, he has had this problem for over a year so therefore i feel he will be covered by the DDA, his own G.P, feels that he is working in the wrong environment, now to my question, could he remove himself from a place of danger until other arrangements could be made? this is backed up with a doctors letter.

Posted By seanie i am the Branch H&S officer for the union, the building is isolated with very poor transport links. the job role here is very stressful which does not help his condition, again his G.P has stated that because of the buildings location and the stress levels involved in the work that another position in a different working environment would be benefical to the employee

Posted By seanie anybody have any other ideas as to what i can do in this situation?

Posted By Coshh Assessor And of course, if he were to have a note from his GP saying he wasn't fit to work ...

Posted By Les Welling Further to my last. Is the walk on your work premises or a public highway coz don't forget he is "not at work" on his way to work on a public highway coming into work until he is actually on your premises. If you see what I mean.

Posted By Coshh Assessor Aiming to get him back to work is as it should be - which should mean recommending whatever changes he needs in the workplace for his health. I would definitely see this as a matter for occ health.

Posted By Les Welling HI. I am still not clear, if this person is walking 20 minutes to the building on your premises. If not it is a matter for the local authority surely? Or he is coming thro' your front gate and then having to walk 20mins? It would make a difference to the help your employer will be able or willing to give. I do understand we do need to look after him but if he is not "at work" I would suggest that your employer would not help much! Les

Posted By Coshh Assessor In that case shouldn't he be getting a taxi, or a lift from a colleaugue?

Posted By Phil Rose I am still not entirely clear of the situation especially the question "could he remove himself from a place of danger until other arrangements could be made" - and wonder if you could elaborate on what you actually mean by that. As a generality, I would say that it is everybody's responsibility to get themselves to and from work. If the GP does not feel that this person if able to do so then I would have thought that he should write a 'sick note' to that effect, although the issue appears to be getting to work rather than doing work. In saying that Access to Work will provide assistance with taxis to the door step if the person involved meets the criteria. Employers should make reasonable adjustments of course. I am not quite sure why the length of someones walk to work should be a matter for the LA!!!! On the OH side of things, I agree that they can sometimes rather sit on the fence but over the years I have found that the 'trick' with dealing with OH often lies with what questions the employer asks of them and how they ask them. The doctor HAS to give an opinion - surely?

Posted By Mike Miller Hi Guys Consider this Have a chat with the employee and explain that you are suspending the individual on medical grounds. (called garden leave in local authority terms) Its for their own good and not to worry they are getting paid. Seek permission from employee to contact their GP for a medical risk assessment on the condition and work restrictions/abilities. In the meantime refer him to your own occupational health department (if there is a waiting list go external) Until you get this information you are shooting in the dark.. Also inform equal ops/disability officer and union. Again go external consultants if necessary for protection of both parties. Also they may be able to get them DLA or some other kind of help to keep them employed who knows? Based on the medical assessments, you may need to offer employee a medical redeployment in a more suitable position. If he/she refuses then retire him/her on medical grounds. Their pension then becomes paid in full. Before everyone starts to worry about DDA & ET's Making reasonable adjustment's is fine where they will actually make a difference to the quality of the individual however it is not always possible depending on the nature of the work and organisation and the remaining risk to the employee after the adjustments. What you will have done is all that is reasonable to ensure the safety, health and welfare of the employee. Often organisations and in particular (LA's) are afraid to tackle the problem worrying about the possibility of ET? In the the meantime dithering means that the employee's condition may deteriorate with fatal consequences. Faced with the question 'what did the company do regarding the situation' The answer will be (we discussed it!') Finally does your organisation offer regular health checks for its employees or do they just wait until health problems like this one pop up? Organising a health bus annually will make a huge difference to the employees in terms of feeling valued and may possibly identify individual health problem in good time to do something about it as well as head off at the pass problems like these..... Is the employee registered disabled? Has anyone asked? They may be but sometimes because they feel it will get them fired they keep it quiet! However if they do not disclose then they cannot expect the employer to give consideration under the DDA. They can declare their disability at anytime though and then you must act. Regards

Posted By seanie many thanks for all the replies, after due consideration have i decided not to go down the "remove yourself from a position of danger road". it looks like the best route for me to take will be the long drawn out occupational health course, it will probably take 2-3 months to get the appointment and then wait a few weeks for the report. this was my first posting, so thanks for all your advice and help.