Staff with medical conditions: guidance on assessing risks

You don't need a separate risk assessment for staff with medical conditions. Find out how to take their needs into account when reviewing your existing risk assessments.

Last reviewed on 13 January 2023
School types: All · School phases: All
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Contents
  1. You have a duty to consult employees about health and safety issues 
  2. You don’t need a separate risk assessment for staff with medical conditions 
  3. Assess any risks specified in doctors’ notes 
  4. Have a conversation with the employee
  5. 4 steps to help you move forward after the conversation

You have a duty to consult employees about health and safety issues 

This is because they’re likely to have a good idea of how to keep themselves and others safe, given their day-to-day understanding of the job. 

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) explains this here

See the last 2 sections of this article for guidance on how to have a conversation with staff with a medical condition, and how to move forward after that. 

You don’t need a separate risk assessment for staff with medical conditions 

Assess staff members’ conditions on a case-by-case basis, rather than having specific risk assessments for different conditions. This is because medical conditions can vary a lot from person