Diabetes UK believes that as many as 5.6 million people currently living in the UK have diabetes. This portion of the population is so surprisingly large, it means that most medium-large companies are likely to have at least one employee living with the condition. Including yours.
This is a condition that has a profound impact on people’s lives. It can have a wide range of symptoms and severity – these can also fluctuate a lot.
Improvements in methods of checking blood glucose and administering insulin injections have made it a lot more straightforward to manage diabetes but the disease still has a big impact on the lives of sufferers. Including their work life.
Yet, while it is a widely diagnosed condition with a familiar name, not everyone understands what those impacts are. In this post, we’ll explore how diabetic employees might be affected by their condition during working hours, as well as discuss how you can support them to make sure the impact of their diagnosis is as minimal as possible.
What Is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a lifelong condition that causes a person’s blood sugar level to become too high, this is because the body cannot break down glucose into energy. There are two different types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body’s immune system destroys the cells that produce insulin. Whereas type 2 is where either the body’s cells don’t react to insulin, or the body fails to produce enough insulin. Type 2 diabetes is far more common than type 1, affecting around 90% of adults in the UK.
Is Diabetes Classed As A Disability?
Diabetes is covered by The Equality Act 2010 which defines a disability as a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial long-term negative effect on a person’s ability to carry out everyday tasks.
As diabetes does have long-reaching impacts on your quality of life, it does qualify as a disability under the Equality Act definition. Many people living with diabetes don’t realise this, underestimating the protections they have to help them do their job to the highest standard possible.
This means that any employee who has a diabetes diagnosis is also covered under the Equality Act. As an employer, you must make reasonable adjustments to support them where they need it, from allowing breaks to administer diabetes medication to not putting them in positions where their illness could put them at risk.
How can diabetes affect employees?
If someone is managing their diabetes well and has been for a long time, it might only have a small impact on their ability to work – or even none at all. In most cases, they may need a couple of small changes to their working conditions (called reasonable adjustments) and nothing more.
Issues will arise if they develop too low or too high blood sugar levels. At their worst, these attacks can have serious complications for your employee’s health. Even the best-case scenario will have them affect your employee’s ability to work as well as causing increased risk to others in the workplace.
Diabetes can also impact your employee’s mental health. The many steps, processes and sacrifices needed to manage diabetes and maintain a healthy lifestyle can be very stressful, and ‘normal’ work pressures can be made a lot worse by these added concerns.
While it is impossible to eliminate many of these issues, supporting your employees and letting them take the steps they need, will reduce the risk it causes. There are a variety of ways to do this but most are through making ‘reasonable adjustments’.
What are reasonable adjustments for diabetes in the workplace?
Reasonable adjustments for diabetic employees might include having a fixed break time every day or splitting a traditionally longer break into smaller ones – this or other flexible working arrangements can help with maintaining blood sugar levels. Another might be allocating a private space for employees to inject insulin or check blood sugar levels.
In reality, the best people to know what adjustments they need are your employees. In many cases, they will have been managing their condition for years and know what they need. Carrying out a personalised risk assessment will also f.
If you are unsure what counts as ‘reasonable’ the ACAS website has more general guidance around your legal obligations.
Can you work alone if you have diabetes?
In most cases, people with diabetes are able to work alone as long as their condition is well managed (they haven’t had any glycemic attacks in over 12 months). In other cases, they may be able to do it as long as they have a little extra support.
If this is the case you will likely need to minimise how many hours they can work alone. They will need regular breaks to monitor and manage their blood sugar level, for example.
However, there are exceptions to this guidance – particularly in safety-critical environments.
Do diabetics get extra breaks at work?
Employees with diabetes are entitled to take extra breaks if they need them for specific health-related reasons. If they need to take steps to manage their blood glucose levels that fall out of standard break patterns, you need to allow this. This might include time for blood sugar testing, insulin injections or eating regularly. They may even need time to attend medical appointments or to see healthcare professionals for support.
This is something you should discuss with your employee and cover during a risk assessment.
Should you carry out risk assessments for employees with diabetes?
The best way to support employees who have diabetes is by carrying out a personalised risk assessment for them. This will allow you to spot any issues that they might face due to their illness, as well as agree on the steps you can take to minimise them
Things you should consider as part of the risk assessment include:
- How stable they are, and what treatment the individual is currently receiving
- Will the individual have regular meal breaks
- How will the job role duties affect sugar in the blood
- Are they safe to carry out all work activity safely
- Are they able to safely work alone?
If you require assistance with carrying out a risk assessment, you can contact us. Our team of expert occupational health therapists can help you assess the risks surrounding the role so they can be minimised as much as possible.
What jobs can diabetics not do?
If their blood glucose levels are managed and symptoms are under control, there are very few jobs that someone with a diabetes diagnosis can’t do.
There are some jobs you may need to prove your suitability for if you have diabetes. For example, to pass HGV medical you must not have had a hypoglycemia episode in over 12 months (For more information on which health conditions will cause you to fail a HGV medical see our guide).
Some jobs sit outside the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which means it is possible to be refused the role based on having diabetes. These include jobs in the emergency services or armed forces, but this will usually be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Managing Diabetes In The Workplace
As an employer, employee health is always an ongoing concern. And with a life-changing condition like diabetes, this grows even more important.
If you would like advice or guidance on supporting your employees with their health and wellbeing, our team of occupational health therapists have the experience and knowledge to help. Speak to us today to find out more.