Diabetes And How It Can Affect A Person At Work
Many conditions can cause health issues in the workplace and long-term absence from work. One condition that is becoming increasingly prevalent is diabetes. Diabetes is the result of the body being unable to break down glucose into energy, either because the body doesn’t produce enough insulin to metabolise glucose or because the insulin produced by the body doesn’t work properly. Figures from Diabetes UK show that since 1996 the number of people with diabetes in the UK has more than doubled from 1.4 million to 3.5 million. By 2025, it is estimated that five million people will have diabetes in the UK. Types of diabetes Type 1 diabetes: Develops when the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas have been destroyed so the body can’t maintain normal glucose levels. This accounts for only around 10% of all cases of diabetes and is controlled through regular, life-long insulin injections. Type 2 diabetes: This occurs when the body is not making enough insulin and is most common in middle aged or older people. However, it is becoming increasingly common in younger, overweight people and is often linked to lifestyle choices. To some extent, type 2 diabetes can be controlled through diet and exercise, although many people with type 2 diabetes will require medication to control glucose levels. Diabetes – warning signs Certain symptoms can suggest the onset of diabetes, and these include: feeling very thirsty; urinating more frequently, particularly at night; increased hunger; feeling tired; weight loss or loss of muscle bulk; slow-healing cuts or wounds; blurred vision; frequent b0uts of thrush. Risk factors for diabetes Type 1 diabetes: Family history: Having a parent or sibling with the condition. Genetics: The presence of certain genes indicates an increased risk of d Continue reading >>
Diabetes In The Workplace - Diabetics Perceptions And Experiences Of Managing Their Disease At Work: A Qualitative Study
Diabetes in the workplace - diabetics perceptions and experiences of managing their disease at work: a qualitative study 1Centre for Health and Social Care Research, Faculty of Health and Social Care, Canterbury Christ Church University, Medway Campus, Cathedral Court, 30 Pembroke Court, Chatham Maritime, Kent, ME4 4UF, UK 1Centre for Health and Social Care Research, Faculty of Health and Social Care, Canterbury Christ Church University, Medway Campus, Cathedral Court, 30 Pembroke Court, Chatham Maritime, Kent, ME4 4UF, UK 1Centre for Health and Social Care Research, Faculty of Health and Social Care, Canterbury Christ Church University, Medway Campus, Cathedral Court, 30 Pembroke Court, Chatham Maritime, Kent, ME4 4UF, UK 22 Thames Ave, Rainham, Gillingham, Kent, ME8 9BW, UK Received 2012 Apr 27; Accepted 2013 Apr 15. Copyright 2013 Ruston et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Diabetes represents one of the biggest public health challenges facing the UK. It is also associated with increasing costs to the economy due to working days lost as people with diabetes have a sickness absence rate 23 times greater than the general population. Workplaces have the potential to support or hinder self- management of diabetes but little research has been undertaken to examine the relationship between work and diabetes in the UK. This paper seeks to go some way to addressing this gap by exploring the perceptions and experiences of employees with diabetes. Forty three people with diabetes were purposivel Continue reading >>
Working With Type 1 Diabetes
Most people have heard of diabetes and think of it as a “lifestyle” disease – one that can be avoided or managed by means such as diet and exercise. But did you know there’s more than one type of diabetes? One which doesn’t just strike those in middle or older age, or those with high blood pressure, weight problems, a poor diet and a lack of physical activity. Type 1 diabetes, sometimes called juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that usually occurs in childhood and lasts a lifetime. While it can be diagnosed at any age, it typically first occurs in people under the age of 30. There is no way to prevent or cure this disease and its causes are not fully understood, though genetics and environmental factors are believed to play a role. Type 1 diabetes affects more than 122,300 people in Australia alone and 2000 people are diagnosed with it here each year – but it remains relatively unknown, probably because it accounts for only 10-15 per cent of all cases of diabetes. The disease destroys the body’s ability to produce insulin, a vital hormone that keeps us alive. Insulin lets our body process sugar to create energy – without it, we literally starve as we cannot digest food. People with type 1 diabetes need multiple injections of insulin every day or to be connected to an insulin pump every day. Sadly, though, insulin is not a cure for this cruel disease. People with type 1 need to strictly manage their blood glucose levels 24 hours a day, which can place a lot of stress on them and their families. They live in constant fear of the potentially life-threatening extremes of hypoglycaemia, or low blood sugar, and hyperglycaemia, or high blood sugar. On top of that is the considerable risk of serious complications, which can include eye disease and blind Continue reading >>
Lone Working And Diabetes
Diabetes Forum The Global Diabetes Community This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More. Get the Diabetes Forum App for your phone - available on iOS and Android . Find support, ask questions and share your experiences. Join the community ..a quick question ..has anyone that works for an employer been told that they can no longer work alone because they have diabetes? Yup since diagnosed T1 I can no longer work on site alone. On the rare occasion that I HAVE to then I must radio into the control room every 15 minutes. Seems a bit pathetic but that's the rules! Industry set, not specific to my company I will often go to the office to catch up on accounts whilst the business is closed, so do work alone on occasion. Never bothered me and not a problem. Should my hypo awareness signs start to deteriorate, or had episodes where I needed assistance I would re think things. I always carry qa glucose with me should I need it. Sent from my GT-S5360 using DCUK Forum mobile app I'm allowed alone in the office, it's purely on site (or offshore, but I'm not even allowed offshore for the moment) My employer has no problem with it, I have never been on site alone though. Normally being on site involves attending meetings, doing walk rounds, supervising, snagging etc so I am never on my own, & usually with someone else from our office. In the office is not a problem & I will be working some weekends there soon (most likely alone) to make up for taking time for DAFNE. I work in the care industry and work one to one with the people i support. They are all aware of my condition and would call someone if they felt i was "not myself". My colleagues are aware of where i should be at all times as we all carry a rota so if i dont Continue reading >>
Type 2 Diabetes And Your Workplace Rights
Living with type 2 diabetes is hard enough. But what if your condition affects your work or the way people treat you there? Learn about your employment rights as someone with diabetes. Diabetes is considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This law applies to any employer in the United States that has 15 employees or more. It also applies to: labor organizations joint labor-management committees employment agencies all state and local government employers If you’re employed by or applying for a job with one of these organizations, the ADA protects you from discrimination. An employer can’t refuse to hire you based solely on your diabetes. In fact, you don’t even have a legal obligation to tell a prospective employer about your condition. Once you’ve been hired, the ADA also requires your employer to provide reasonable accommodations. These include changes to your workplace or routine that can help you to manage your condition. You may also be protected under the Rehabilitation Act if you’re federally employed. Depending on where you live, additional state laws may cover smaller employers or offer broader protections. In most cases, an employer can’t use your diabetes as a reason: not to hire you not to promote you to fire you The only exception is if your condition poses a direct threat to your health or safety or those of others. For example, do you frequently experience hypoglycemic episodes that could interfere with your duties? These episodes might incapacitate you while you’re operating heavy machinery. This could put your life at risk. In this case, an employer has the right not to hire you for a role that requires you to operate that machinery. Once you’ve received a job offer, you’re subject to the same medical req Continue reading >>
Working With Diabetes
Health , Risk assessment , Risk assessment More than two million people in the UK suffer from diabetes and around 300 more are diagnosed each day. However, many of us don't know what causes the condition and how serious it can be. Becky Allen considers the workplace implications of a common but much-misunderstood condition. For such a common condition - more than two million people in the UK suffer from it and around 300 more are diagnosed each day - diabetes is surrounded by myths and misconceptions. We may know that diabetics can suffer from so-called "hypos" - and that when they do, they need sugar - but many of us don't know what causes the condition, how serious it can be, and what impact diabetes has in the workplace. According to Caroline Butler, a care advisor at the charity Diabetes UK, "A common myth is that, compared with type 1 diabetes, type 2 is mild. In fact, both types are serious because they can lead to long-term complications like heart disease, kidney disease, increased risk of stroke, and blindness. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in the working-age population." Perhaps because of misconceptions about the condition, until recently people with diabetes were often actively discriminated against at work: having diabetes meant an automatic bar to careers in some professions, including the emergency services. But changes to the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) in 2004 mean only the armed forces remain exempt from the Act's provisions. Diabetes UK believes that while discrimination still occurs, many employers are getting the message that if the condition is well controlled, people with diabetes are able to do almost all jobs safely. "There was a huge blanket ban on some professions, but since 2004 there's been a massive improvement," says Continue reading >>
Working Through: Diabetes
Since 1996, the number of people living with diabetes in the UK has more than doubled; one person is diagnosed every two minutes. According to Diabetes UK’s latest estimates, almost 3.5 million adults have been diagnosed with the condition, while it remains undiagnosed in more than one million others. About one person in ten has type 1, which is treated by daily insulin doses, taken either by injections or through an insulin pump. The rest have type 2, which can be managed with a healthy diet and increased physical activity, though in more serious cases medication or insulin (or both) may be required. Type 1 often appears in childhood, while type 2 tends to develop after the age of 40, but in both cases there are exceptions: the UK’s prime minister, Theresa May, for example, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in her mid-50s, when she was home secretary. With so many people affected and numbers rising all the time, you might expect it to be well understood by employers. According to people with the condition, however, this is far from being the case. Christine Smythe, a health and safety manager, was diagnosed with type 2 insulin-dependent diabetes at just 24. She remembers the shock of receiving this “life-changing” diagnosis and having to tell her then manager, who said he hoped she would not use it as an excuse to skive off work. She has also encountered managers who are unaware that diabetes – a long-term condition that affects a person’s ability to do normal day-to-day activities – is generally classed as a disability under the Equality Act 2010. So workers can seek compensation from employers that fail to make “reasonable adjustments” to enable them to do their jobs. Be open Diabetes adjustments Allow the person to take short, regular breaks to ea Continue reading >>
To Tell Or Not To Tell?
A prospective employer isn’t normally allowed to ask you about your health or disability unless it’s strictly relevant to the tasks required of the job, or to make reasonable adjustments for you. It’s normally not essential that your work needs to know about your health unless it’s relevant to the tasks required in your job. But it’s important that your tell your employer about your type 1 diabetes if you want them to make reasonable adjustments, like taking breaks to check your blood glucose or treat hypos. Any medical information your employer holds about you is subject to strict data protection law. It’s up to you whether you want to tell your work colleagues about your type 1 diabetes. If you choose to tell them, you should be prepared for them asking questions or making comments, some of which may seem inappropriate. This is because many people don’t understand what type 1 diabetes means or they assume it’s treated in the same way as type 2 diabetes. Talking about how you developed your type 1 diabetes and how you treat it, can be helpful. Job interviews Again, it’s you choice whether you tell your prospective employers, but it does sometime have its drawbacks. While people with type 1 diabetes are able to do any job, some employers may be reluctant to employ someone with the condition due to misconceptions. For example, they may wrongly assume that people with type 1 diabetes can’t do a job that requires regular driving. It is possible to turn type 1 diabetes into a positive. People with type 1 have to be aware of the time, keep to a routine, follow a healthy lifestyle and attend regular clinic appointments. These are all qualities which demonstrate responsibility, self-discipline and organisational skills – traits that employers seek when re Continue reading >>
Diabetes Type 2
Many people we talked to continued to work after being diagnosed with diabetes. Support from employers in being flexible about working hours and the Access to Work scheme in providing equipment helped several people to continue working. Sometimes the type of work people did make it hard for them to keep working, especially if their job was physically demanding. People who had neuropathy (nerve damage) in their feet found it difficult to continue doing jobs which required walking long distances or standing for long periods of time. One man, who was a paramedic, said he took early retirement when he started taking insulin because he didn't want to be driving at high speed. A hairdresser found it hard to find time to eat properly and after developing neuropathy could no longer stand on her feet all day. Eating at the right time takes extra care and planning when working in a physically demanding job. However desk-based jobs can also cause problems for people with diabetes. Some people whose eyes were affected said that they found reading difficult, particularly reading from a computer screen. One man said he had become more sensitive to fluorescent lights at work and he felt it created tensions amongst his colleagues that he needed to have the lights turned off. Some people felt that there were times when they were less productive at work, either because of a rise in blood glucose levels or general fatigue. A few people were concerned that they might have difficulty getting another job if they needed to. Although many people with diabetes would not consider themselves disabled, diabetes is listed in the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) which protects people with disabilities from being treated differently to other employees. Advice about workplace rights are availble fr Continue reading >>
Can You Work If You Have Diabetes?
This is the question that Aidan sent to The Diabetes Council last week: Can you work if you have diabetes? Of course you can work if you have diabetes, or can you? Seemingly this is a simple question, but there are three answers: Yes No Maybe – you can work if you have diabetes by fighting the system Careers that you cannot have with diabetes There are some careers that preclude you from working as a person with diabetes. These careers are not open to people with diabetes who are taking insulin. For example, if you have Type 1 diabetes, you are not allowed to pilot a plane commercially in the United States, no matter how well controlled your diabetes is. The FAA currently will not allow it. However, if you want to pilot a plane in Canada or the United Kingdom, there are regulations set up that allow persons with Type 1 diabetes who are in good control of their diabetes to pilot a plane commercially. We have looked at a lot of different careers at The Diabetes Council. We have looked at whether or not you can be in the military with diabetes, be a firefighter or a law enforcement officer with diabetes, astronaut, work as an EMT/paramedic, a long-distance truck driver, or be a pilot with diabetes. Soon, we will look at whether or not you can be a flight attendant with diabetes. Please read the articles above to find out what the specifics of working in these careers with diabetes are, and what kind of rules and regulations you must follow. The careers we have looked at so far all have certain rules and regulations that apply to people with diabetes. These rules and regulations are put into place to ensure the safety of the employee with diabetes, and also the safety of the general public. For example, a pilot with poorly controlled diabetes who has a low blood sugar cou Continue reading >>
Employment And Diabetes
Whether you're taking your first step onto the job ladder or looking to change jobs, it's important to show recruiters that you're the best person for the job, regardless of your diabetes. This guidance focuses on employment equality law, applying for jobs and managing diabetes. The Equality Act 2010 This applies in England, Wales and Scotland. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 applies in Northern Ireland. The legislation sets out the principles that employers should follow in their treatment of employees and job applicants with a disability. Although you may not consider yourself to have a disability, workers with diabetes will often be protected by the provisions in the Act. Applying for jobs It is unlawful for an employer to operate a blanket ban on recruitment of people with diabetes. Some jobs involving safety-critical work will have legitimate health requirements that may exclude some people with certain medical conditions, including diabetes. Following extensive campaigning by Diabetes UK, the blanket bans have been lifted in the emergency services for people with Type 1 diabetes and people with Type 2 diabetes who use insulin. Decisions made on someone’s suitability for employment in these services should be made by a process of individual assessment. Recruitment and retention of people with diabetes in the police, fire and ambulance services should now be subject to individual medical assessment. However the UK armed forces are exempt from the Equality Act and can operate a blanket ban on the recruitment of people with diabetes. In some NHS Ambulance Trusts, there are still restrictions in place on people with diabetes who wish to be ambulance crew. These restrictions are being challenged. You may find that if you develop diabetes while in employment, yo Continue reading >>
Diabetes
Recent statistics indicate that 3.5 million people in the UK have diabetes, while an estimated half a million additional people have the condition but are unaware that they have it. The number of people with diabetes in the UK is expected to rise to more than 5 million by 2025. Currently, the condition costs the NHS around £10 billion a year. Diabetes is a chronic condition whereby the body is not able to regulate its glucose levels due to abnormal metabolism. There are two main types of diabetes. Type 1 is the less common of the two. In this condition, the body is not able to make insulin on its own to manage blood glucose levels. It usually affects children and young adults. Type 2 is much more common and mainly affects adults. In this condition, the body doesn't produce enough insulin to manage blood glucose levels and/or the cells in the body can’t use it correctly. Although not fully understood, certain factors increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. These include; age, weight, body fat distribution, lack of physical activity, family history and ethnicity. It's a very common lifelong health condition that doesn’t hinder people’s ability to get a job or to keep one. People with diabetes should be assessed on their individual ability to do a job and not be discriminated against simply because they have the condition. Nevertheless, some key areas of employment have restrictions on people with insulin-dependent diabetes. These include: driving long goods vehicles or those carrying passengers, i.e. jobs where people need to have a Group 2 licence the armed forces jobs in the aviation industry, such as airline pilots and, in some cases, cabin crew and air traffic control personnel working offshore, for example on oil rigs and ships. There can also be restrictions in Continue reading >>
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Diabetes In The Workplace
For six years I worked at a company that I loved but had long outgrew. I never made an attempt to leave because of one reason; I live with a chronic illness. Leaping into a new routine with so many unknowns made me uncomfortable. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes after already being at my job for three years. I was already excelling so the only hard part now was throwing a chronic illness into the mix. This led to many sick days, leaving early and days that seemed to move in slow motion. Luckily for me, at this job I made my own schedule, worked at my own pace, and worked alone. Im gonna have to stay here forever, I thought. No one is ever going to understand. I dont want to explain myself to coworkers. My boss Meghan already knows and is beyond accommodating. Im comfortable. For all of the reasons above, I stayed three more years. Dont get me wrong, I was happy but I knew I wanted and NEEDED more. Im happy to say that one day, on LinkedIn, I got a message from Itzia who is now my new boss. She asked if I would be interested in meeting to talk about a position she had available. At first I thought about not even replying. I thought I cant! Working in retail is already hard enough and I already have a dream position. Why would I fix something that wasnt broken? Then I thought, Im on LinkedIn for a reason. I want to meet and connect with people in my industry. I already convinced myself that I didnt want the position. No way could I leave the comfort of my free schedule, no coworkers, work-at-your-own-pace life but I decided to meet with Itzia anyway. On the car ride there I had a meltdown. Why are you even going? Why are you wasting this ladys time? You dont want the job. YOU CANT DO THE JOB! but my little Fiat landed me there anyway. I arrived and was greeted by Itz Continue reading >>
Diabetes News: Sufferers Of Life-altering Disease Targeted At Work | Health | Life & Style | Express.co.uk
Diabetes sufferers are apparently quitting jobs due to lack of understanding A lack of understanding from their employers can make working with diabetes potentially life-threatening We heard from people who had to give up their jobs in order to manage their condition safely. Diabetes is one of the largest health crises of our time. Missing essential health checks or not taking medication on time can lead to devastating complications. Diabetes UK says three in five sufferers experience emotional or mental health problems. A fifth have used support or counselling from a trained professional to help them manage their condition, while a third have turned to self-help materials. More than a third of sufferers say their condition causes them difficulty at work, a quarter are forced to take time off for medical appointments, in addition to regular breaks for blood sugar testing, while seven per cent are too scared to tell anyone about it. The disturbing findings come from a survey run by Diabetes UK and completed by almost 10,000 people, of whom nearly nine in 10 said the condition made them feel down. The charity wants the results of its Future of Diabetes poll to start a national conversation about the impact of long-term health conditions in the workplace. To prevent the onset of potentially fatal complications, diabetes sufferers must have regular health checks and test their blood sugar levels several times a day. Type 1 occurs when the pancreas, a small gland behind the stomach, fails to produce insulin the hormone regulating blood glucose levels. If the amount of glucose is too high it can, over time, damage vital organs. Just 10 per cent of all sufferers have Type 1, but it is the most common type of childhood diabetes. In Type 2, the pancreas fails to produce enough Continue reading >>
Diabetes And Your Work
Diabetes and work don’t always mix. How do you manage food, medicines, rest, monitoring, exercise, and work, especially if you’ve got demands, deadlines, and a boss who’s sweating you? How do you deal with the stress? I asked my son’s 22-year-old friend Don, who was diagnosed with Type 1 in 2008, about his data input job. “Don’t even ask,” he said. “On weekends, I can eat like I’m supposed to. I can test when I need to, exercise if I want to. That’s hard enough. But at work? I don’t think so. We get one lunch break of 35 minutes. We’re supposed to get coffee breaks, but nobody takes them. We’re too busy, so we stay at our desks and type.” I asked Don if he knew about employment law requiring employers to make “reasonable accommodations” for illness and disability, including time to monitor and a private place to do it. “I’ve heard of stuff like that,” he said. “The boss tells me I can test if I really need to, but he says things like ‘don’t take advantage of my good nature.’ I’ve only had the job six months and don’t want to [antagonize] him.” Don may be right to worry. According to the American Diabetes Association, anti-diabetes discrimination at work is a major problem. According to this ADA Web page, “For workers with diabetes, employment discrimination can take many forms, but typically includes a failure to hire or promote you because of your diabetes, termination due to your diabetes, or a failure to provide you with reasonable accommodations that help you do your job.” But worse than discrimination may be a work environment’s direct effects on your health. Work can be a major source of stress, which we know increases insulin resistance and blood pressure. Work stress can lead to consuming unhealthy food, Continue reading >>
