The effect of medication on carrying out tasks at work
The medication or treatment that your employee
takes for their mental health condition may affect their ability to
carry on doing certain types of work. This is an issue you
should discuss carefully with your employee and your occupational
health advisor.
Typically the sort of tasks you may need to
look at changing due to the effect of medication are related to
driving, working with machinery or working at heights since some
medicines affect balance or judgement for example. In
addition, come medicines affect people’s ability to concentrate and
may make people feel sleepy or tired.
Applicants of drivers licence holders must
inform the Driver
Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) of any
condition that may affect their ability to drive safely.
Links
to resources
The
Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority
(DVLA) requires applicants or drivers licence holders
to inform them of any condition that may affect a person’s ability
to drive safely. This links to information on specific
medical conditions which may affect driving and to the section with
information on what happens after the DVLA is informed about a
medical condition.
Royal
College of Psychiatrists – mental health
information
The mental health information section has lots of readable well
researched information about treatments for mental
ill-health. The information leaflets include explanations of
how different medicines work, how long they may take to have an
effect, what tasks the medicine may affect your ability to carry
out.
Mental Health Foundation
This section on medication for mental health
problems includes a section called ‘Questions to ask’ .
Although this information has been developed to help people with
mental health conditions to talk to their doctor, it may provide
questions which are helpful to employers when discussing the effect
of medication with an employee.
Rethink
Rethink has a summary of the possible effects that common types of
medicines can have. Rethink have also produced a report
called ‘Side Effects’ which is available to
download. This is based on the ‘real-life’ experiences of
mental health service users.
MIND
MIND has information on medical and alternative
treatments. Each booklet or factsheet contains information on side
effects.
Medicines
and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
Taking medicines - some questions &
answers about side effects is a leaflet produced by the MHRA for
the public.
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