Macular disease and work: Part 2

Part 2: supporting employees with macular disease 

Summary:

Colin Daniels, employment specialist at the Macular Society, explains how employers can take a pragmatic approach to supporting employees who develop central vision loss.

Macular disease of any kind should not be considered a reason to leave work. The clinical implications that have been laid out by Alexander Foss and Chris White, in the first part of this two-part discussion, may seem daunting but the majority of people with macular disease (central vision loss) still have quite a lot of useful, functional vision.

The reduction in the ability to see fine detail and colour and to identify colleagues can seem difficult, but with a few adjustments there is no reason why people should not stay in their current job. Obviously, there are some caveats to this, for example if you are a lorry driver, but in most cases employees should be able to remain in work…

 

Colin Daniels lives with macular disease and has supported blind and partially sighted people in the workplace for over 10 years.

Author: Daniels C

Tags eyesight

Occupational Health at Work April/May 2023 (vol. 19/6) pp23-26

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