Supporting safety at home
Employers must provide the same healthy and safety protection for home workers as they do for office-based staff, Britian’s national workplace regulator has warned. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) highlighted the fact that the same responsibilities apply whether employees are working on-site or remotely.
It pointed to three key risk areas: mental health and stress, working with display screen equipment and the working environment, including lone working. Barbara Hockey, from the HSE Engagement and Policy Division, said: “Working from home can deliver benefits to both employers and employees but with more than three in ten workers now working remotely or in a hybrid arrangement, it’s important that employers understand their responsibilities.
“Practically, this means managers keeping in regular contact with their teams, talking openly about workloads and training needs, and making sure people aren’t under pressure to work outside their normal working hours.
“It also means having simple conversations about the physical environment by asking staff to visually check that their equipment is safe and not damaged, keeping work areas clear of trailing wires or obstructions, and making sure everyone knows what to do in an emergency.”
