Posted By Nick House
There are no hard and fast rules here, as it is often dependent on the person. some women go through pregnancy with llittle/ no problems/ ill effects, whilst others have a pretty hard time of it. Most, however, fall somewhere in between.

In my experience, you should consider the following:

Drivers should take a break at least every 2 hours, and should not normally work more than 8 hours a day (including travelling time). With a pregnant driver, you should simpy reiterate this, and suggest that if they are feeling a little under the weather, then they should consider if the journey is really necessary, or whether they can accomplish the objective by means of a telephone conversation (if they are in sales, for example).

I would also suggest that you explain that they will need to put more thought into planning their journey, perhaps to include more rest stops. Service areas with toilet facilities should also be recommended for these stops wherever possible.

Overnight stopovers should also be avoided wherever possible.

Essentially, for the majority of the time, most of this is best left down to the person concerned's own judgement, as they will know how they feel on any given day, and they should be given the freedom to plan their day around this.

In my experience, this generally works well. If you also carry out regular reviews/ risk assessments, ensuring that you include the pregnant person and their manager at all times, then you should generally end up with everyone being happy. You should also encourage the pregnant worker to come to you if they have any worries or concerns.

Posted By Phil.D.Baptiste
....I read somewhere that sitting, and standing, for long periods has been found to increase the incidence of premature birth and increased blood pressure...I've had a look at some of the assessments I have done and have included this advice but can't find the reference, except that on our internally developed guidance....

Philby'