Health and Safety Considerations For Working From Home
Recently, nearly all industries throughout Canada have seen a dramatic increase in the number of employees working from home in response to the need to slow the spread of COVID-19 and therefore flatten the curve. Daedalus Safety Group would like to share the following considerations for employers and workers for ensuring at-home workspaces are appropriately set up, comfortable, healthy, and safe.
Employers
Do you currently have a health and safety policy which specifically addresses remote work conditions or work from home situations? If you allow or require employees to work from home, that area is now considered a workplace, and because of this, workers, supervisors, and management need to be made aware of possible changes regarding the expectations of performing their roles.
The policy, at a minimum, should contain the following elements:
Defined roles, duties, and responsibilities of all workplace parties for working from home scenarios
The requirement for employees who work from home to define what portion of their home is being used for work purposes
The completion and submission by the employee of a basic assessment of their at-home workspace to their supervisor or manager, including a list of all the hazards identified and what measures they have taken or propose to take to make their workspace safer (i.e. overloaded electrical outlets, trip hazards from cables and cords, inadequate lighting, poor cell reception, etc.)
An outline of the procedure at-home employees would follow should they need to evacuate from their home and the method for contacting the employer in the case of an emergency
Reference to any safe work practices that would apply to working from home and how to report any work-related incidents or injuries which involve the at-home employee while performing work in their designated workspace(s)
Consideration of ergonomics (aka human factors); Just like in the office, a home-based workstation needs to have adequate seating and worktop surface that can be adjusted to suit the worker’s individual height and reach. Lighting needs to be sufficient with minimal glare
The duty to accommodate at-home work, as is reasonably practicable, which may include providing the employee with all the equipment required to perform their duties, by either making equipment available from the normal workplace, or reimbursing at-home workers who purchase equipment needed to work from home
Discussion of Fire Prevention and Protection in the home and the expectations for the testing of smoke alarms and ensuring unobstructed and easy egress from at-home workstations at regular intervals
Protocol for regular check-ins if working alone or in isolation for extended periods
Requirements for at-home worker education and training
Additionally, it is important to maintain contact with employees who are working from home or in isolation. Employers should ensure clear and regular communication is established, to:
Set realistic and clear instructions on workload, roles and tasks allocation and timelines
Check in with staff to ensure they are able to access the systems and technology required to do their job
Monitor work levels
Check that work can be successfully completed from home and adjust work tasks as necessary
Keep employees informed of organizational and work team activities, updates, training, and opportunities
Supporting Your Employees’ Psychological and Emotional Health
Working from home can be a challenge, particularly when it is a temporary or new arrangement.
Each employee has a different home life, and employers should, where possible, offer flexibility in how work is completed. For example, by discussing and agreeing on work hours which allow the employee to meet their responsibilities at home as well as meeting their work requirements. A lack of social contact, particularly over an extended period, may lead to anxiety, lack of motivation and loss of involvement in decision-making within the organization.
Employers should consider ways to keep employees connected and mentally healthy, for example, by:
Regularly checking in to make sure employees feel supported and are coping with working from home, for example by setting up daily phone or video conference meetings
Creating opportunities for team communications, for example by using online tools or apps to establish team-wide chat groups
Being available, accessible and willing to listen when employees need to contact them from home
Providing employees with appropriate control and flexibility over how they do their work
Providing practical tools to support positive mental health, such as access to an employee assistance program
Encouraging employees to stay physically active, eat well and regularly go outside
Making sure employees are effectively disengaging from their work and logging off at the end of the day
Employees
In order to support their employer’s accommodation of work being performed at-home, workers need to ensure they are conducting their due diligence in not only making their home workstations safe, but also that they are adequately complying with their company’s directives and legislation. This collaborative approach by both parties establishes the value and viability that working remotely can bring to an organization’s operational model long after restrictions have been lifted and business begins returning to “normal”.
Until that time however, it is the at-home worker who ultimately determines the safety and comfort of their home workstation. Many rights and responsibilities are just as applicable for at-home workers as they are for more traditional workplaces, including:
Reporting work related incidents and injuries
Requirement to follow safe work practices and safe job procedures
Properly setting up the home office environment (more below)
Keeping in touch with coworkers and supervisors and updating them with any changes to your at-home work conditions which may prevent the completion of tasks as previously assumed
Taking regular breaks while working
Setting up a Home Workstation
A workstation for office-based work at home should include:
a comfortable and adjustable chair that is appropriate to the task being undertaken
a desk or table at a comfortable height, with good access for legs and no obstacles underneath, and a flat, smooth, and non-reflective surface
a keyboard placed at a distance that allows the employee to relax their shoulders with their elbows close to their body
a mouse that rests at the same height as the keyboard and moves easily on the surface of the table
a monitor with the top of the screen sitting at or slightly below eye level, positioned to avoid glare and with a viewing distance of 35cm to 75cm
Any employee who later finds that their at-home workstation creates early fatigue or continuous discomfort while working, they should document and report this to their supervisor so that possible solutions can be discussed. Poorly designed workstations lower productivity, and eventually result in soft-tissue strain and injury.
At the end of the day, the goal is to make sure that employees are able to work productively and safely from within the confines of their own homes. This can be best accomplished when all workplace parties share the same understanding of the expectations and work as a team in supporting each other’s efforts.
Sources:
Wes Mazur, 2020, Working from home? Safety is your responsibility, OHS Canada, accessed 22 April 2020, <https://www.ohscanada.com/opinions/working-home-safety-responsibility/>
WorkSafe BC, 2020, Health and safety Responsibilities when working from home, WorkSafe BC, accessed 22 April 2020, <https://www.worksafebc.com/en/about-us/news-events/announcements/2020/March/health-safety-responsibilities-when-working-from-home>
WorkSafe Victoria, 2020, Minimising the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19): Working from home, WorkSafe Victoria, accessed 22 April 2020, <https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/minimising-spread-coronavirus-covid-19-working-home>
