Here at the Berkeley Lab, staff members in Health and Safety (H&S), Radiation Protection, and in Health Services work together to examine workplace hazards and eliminate or minimize any exposures and impact. Potential hazards can come in the form of chemicals, radiation, and biological and other materials. The goal is to limit risk to everyone, but a developing baby can be extra-sensitive to maternal exposures. This is why, for example, lower permissible exposure limits for pregnant radiation workers have been established. Similar standards have not been worked out for all or even many other potential exposures for a pregnant worker or for either partner during the process of trying to conceive, so there’s a lot of fine-tuning that can come into play.
That fine-tuning occurs as part of the Pregnancy/Reproductive Health Hazard Assessment Program. The program is voluntary and starts with a request through H&S and/or Health Services for this individualized assessment. We have dedicated staff in each of our departments who collaborate with the worker to understand their job and what they may be exposed to and how often and for how long. Any concerns are addressed by the appropriate subject matter expert, e.g., concerns about ionizing radiation are addressed by radiation protection and concerns about chemical exposure are addressed by H&S, etc. The methods that are already used to decrease potential exposure, like PPE, limiting time spent in certain locations or doing certain duties, engineering controls, etc, can be adjusted, if needed, to further decrease any exposures. A plan is then put into place through collaboration with the worker’s managers and supervisors.
The best timing for an assessment is during your active family planning phase or as early as possible during pregnancy. Some considerations continue during breastfeeding as well. Minimizing hazards as early as possible and continuing those efforts as long as necessary makes the most sense and is likely to be the most successful.
Anyone interested in learning more can follow one of the links above or call Health Services at X6266.
