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Positively Employed: An Employer's Guide to HIV and Other Blood Borne Viruses (BBVs)

Simple inexpensive steps you can take

• Train all staff, including senior management (guarding against vicarious liability) on HIV and other BBVs and their respective roles within the policy context. You may be able to access free training from your local health board or other agencies listed at the end of this leaflet. World AIDS Day is a good opportunity to introduce the subject into the workplace.
• Make sure your organisation complies with relevant legislation (see Your legal duties explained section).
• Make accessible information on sources of advice, support and information, both within and outwith your workplace. These can be displayed on staff noticeboards and/or in toilets. Again, you will find sources of further information and advice at the end of this leaflet.
• Integrate HIV and other BBVs with existing policies, e.g. equal opportunities, health and safety.
• Respect the confidentiality of employees’ personal and medical information, avoiding any unnecessary and damaging disclosures. People with HIV or BBVs may need to be reassured about the confidentiality they are entitled to by your organisation.
• If your workplace has anti-discriminatory policies, you should consider adding in specific references to HIV and other BBVs.
• If part of your employees’ job may involve travel outside the UK, particularly to an area of high incidence of HIV and AIDS, you should provide employees with advice about healthcare. A good source of information on this issue is Health Scotland’s Information for Travellers on HIV and Sexual Health (2002), (see Further reading section).

These could be formulated within a formal written policy.

Remember you do not need to know the HIV status of your employee to protect the health and safety of all employees.