I have recently been informed that one of our employees is receiving on going treatment for regular bouts of blood poisoning due to a condition. This appears to start in his legs and can be caused by his legs being knocked. I have been asked to see what we can do to try and prevent his work being a contributing factor. I have done lots of risk assessments for many different things but this one has got me stumped. Can anyone help? The employee is a plasterer.

I would watch him at work and ask him about the kinds of things that might result in his legs being knocked.

The medical practitioner seems to have done their bit already by explaining that the thing to do is avoid getting his legs knocked. The risk assessment is to find out how his legs might get knocked and hence anything that can be done to prevent this.

Is it really only an issue for his legs ? I would want to confirm all the issues he may have, before assessing or deciding on control measures. If in any doubt I would bring in external Occ health help. First I would do a lot of research into condition, so I could have meaningful conversations.

Plasterers sometime use short stilts when doing ceilings / tops of walls, may affect legs as they strap around just under knee.

It sounds as tho' your man is immunocompromised and could be at risk from SIRS commonly known as scepaecemia. You need specialist advice to completed the OH risk assessment for his continued work. He shouldn't work alone and you need to make your first aiders aware of how to deal with this as any collapse could be life threatening.

I also won't post any further information on a public forum... :). Hope this helps.