A number of occupations are not covered by specific regulations,
but you will generally be held
to the standard of reasonable behavior if you cause harm to people or property
wholly or in part as a result of your diabetes. If you did not know what a reasonable person
might be
expected
to know, or act on
the knowledge
that you have
as a reasonable person
might
be expected to act, you could be judged to have recklessly endangered the
lives of others
or negli-
gently
damaged the property of others and could be subject to legal
penalties.
If in doubt, therefore, dis- cuss
your
diabetes
with your doctor and your employer and seek advice from experts on regulations that might apply to you.
Friday, June 22, 2012
How will my diabetes affect my work? Are there any jobs I cannot do?
Whether your diabetes will affect your work depends
upon
the nature of your diabetes and the nature of your work. Thus,
the impact
can be almost negligible to highly significant and life-changing. People with early or well-controlled type 2 diabetes, especially if they are
not
taking medications known to cause hypoglycemia, should be able to perform satisfactorily in almost any type of work that they wish to
do. In situations in which personal or public endangerment is a possibility (e.g., transportation and heavy equipment operation) glucose
monitoring should be performed periodically, especially
when feeling unwell, as high blood sugars can be associ- ated with impaired mental functioning and increase the risk of dehydration and dizziness or drowsiness. If you
have type 1 diabetes or insulin-requiring type 2
diabetes, or have type 2 diabetes
but are taking pills known to cause low blood sugar then the performance of cer-
tain
occupations which could potentially endanger
yourself or others places a special burden of care and
attention upon you. With regards to motor transporta- tion,
motor
vehicle departments
have regulations,
which may vary from state
to state, as to licensure requirements. They may involve, for example, produc- ing records from the memory of a glucose monitor
to show that you have checked your blood sugar at regu- lar intervals
prior
to and during driving and have had no significant low blood sugar readings
while doing so. With regard to flying, there are federal regulations and states may have
additional
requirements. If you are considering a military career and have diabetes, you will have to inform your
recruiter, who will advise
you of your eligibility.
Labels:
Diabetes
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment