A morbidly obese father has been diagnosed as too fat to work by doctors who fear his weight may cause him to fall over and crush his colleagues. Barry Fowers, 51, who weighs a life-threatening 30 stone (1 stone= 6.350 29 kilograms), worked until October last year assembling industrial power source equipment. But insurance analysts decided he was too big a risk to himself and to others and Mr Fowers reluctantly accepted voluntary redundancy. Mr Fowers is furious that he is still classified as fit to work despite his poor state of health.
Among his ailments are angina and other heart problems, diabetes, back trouble and irritable bowel syndrome. He was initially granted incapacity benefit and has a doctor’s sick note, but does not qualify for Employment and Support Allowance worth around £75 a week. Instead, he receives Jobseeker’s Allowance, which has just been reduced from £65.45 to £21.65 a week.
Mr Fowers, who worked for ten years at Crestchic in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, said: ‘I had to climb onto platforms about a meter from the ground to get to the equipment and install parts. ‘They were worried I might pass out through my diabetes and have a hypothyroidism, or have a heart attack. ‘The insurance people came in and did an assessment after I had a little incident. I tripped and fell over and I was off work for a few weeks. ‘I had an interview with a medical person and I told them about all my different ailments. They sent a report back to work, and I had a meeting with the managing director while I was still off work. ‘They said my weight was a danger to myself and to others in case I fell off a platform while I was working. ‘Because I was having a lot of time off for medical reasons, I was edged towards voluntary redundancy.’
