Pregnancy and occupational safety

If you are pregnant, you should think about any aspects of your working environment which you must avoid with a view to creating safe and secure working conditions for you or your unborn baby.

The University of Copenhagen’s pregnancy policy recommends that pregnant employees working in laboratories or with animals inform their superior about their pregnancy as soon as possible with a view to reviewing the working environment and agreeing any redistribution of duties, as required. Ideally, it should be possibly to continue working while pregnant without any risk of harmful impacts on either the mother or child; going on sick leave is not in the interest of either the pregnant employee or her colleagues if it is possible for the pregnant employee to keep working either full-time or part-time.
The University of Copenhagen has laid down a set of guidelines for working conditions for pregnant employees:
https://intranet.ku.dk/employeeguide/HR/pp/pph/pregnantemployees/Pages/default.aspx). [KUnet password needed]

Annexed to the guidelines is a list of helpful advice for pregnant and breast-feeding women about occupational health and safety.

If, for safety reasons or out of concern for the occupational health and safety of the pregnant employee, the pregnant employee must refrain from performing certain duties, it is a good idea to identify other duties which the employee may be able to undertake. To facilitate this process, HR proposes using the statement of fitness for work (‘Mulighedserklæring’), which is also used in connection with certain types of sick leave.

In the case of pregnant employees, a specific assessment must be made of substances and materials mentioned in the annexe and the possible risk of harmful impacts on human reproduction or the development of the foetus. Please discuss this with your occupational health and safety representative.