Pregnant and breastfeeding staff

In connection with pregnancy and breastfeeding, there are special issues to pay extra attention regarding the risks in the work environment.

Pregnant and breastfeeding staff are entitled to an individual risk assessment of their work environment.

The Swedish Work Environment Authority's provision AFS 2023:2 ”Planering och organisering av arbetsmiljöarbete – grundläggande skyldigheter för dig med arbetsgivaransvar” regulates what kind of work may be performed by pregnant and breastfeeding workers.

The purpose of this provision is to prevent pregnant workers, workers who have recently given birth and workers who are breastfeeding, from being exposed to factors or conditions at work that may lead to the risk of ill-health or accidents.

See also the Swedish Work Environment Authority's theme page and other links and documents.

The following factors shall be investigated:

• Load ergonomic factors
• Psycho-social factors
• Physical factors
• Infectious agents
• Chemical substances.

For more instruction see “Pregnant and breastfeeding employees - support document for risk assessments” under Documents below.

More information on Chemical substances

The following chemical substances may pose risks to pregnant / breastfeeding workers:

• lead/lead compounds Note! Pregnant staff/students are not allowed to work with lead.
• carcinogenic, mutagenic, and reproductive substances
• organ toxic products
• mercury/mercury compounds
• cytostatic
• carbon monoxide
• chemical substances that are harmful when absorbed through the skin.

Examples of such chemicals that are common at KI are:

• Acetonitrile     CAS: 75-05-8
• Acrylamide     CAS: 79-06-1
• Benzene     CAS: 71-43-2
• Boric acid     CAS: 10043-35-3
• Chloroform     CAS: 67-66-3
• Dimethylformamide     CAS: 68-12-2
• Dimethylsulfoxide     CAS: 67-68-5
• Ethylene glycol     CAS: 107-21-1
• Formaldehyde     CAS: 50-00-0
• Formamide     CAS: 75-12-7
• Hexane     CAS: 110-54-3
• 2-Mercaptoethanol     CAS: 60-24-2
• Methanol     CAS: 67-56-1
• Phenol     CAS: 108-95-2
• Xylene   CAS: 106-42-3, 108-38-3, 1330-20-7, 95-47-6

A complete list of the chemicals which are harmful to pregnant and breastfeeding staff can be found in KLARA. Go to Registration and Search products. Use the list Pregnant and breastfeeding staff (see picture below).