With remote work becoming so prevalent, it is important that employers and employees understand how to manage the specific risks that working from home can bring.

Employers have an obligation under the Workplace Health and Safety Act to provide a safe workplace for their employees, and that includes the facilities they have when working from home (or any other place).

So, an employer needs to take reasonable steps to ensure the places a person is working from are free from risk and meet the needs of the employee.

What are the potential risks of working from home? They include home office ergonomics and equipment, the work environment in terms of noise, temperature, layout and lighting, electrical safety, first aid and emergency situations.

As with all workspaces, a risk assessment should be undertaken. It would be practical for the employee to do this, perhaps via a health and safety checklist.

Home Office

An employer should ensure that their employee has their home office set up in an ergonomic way. That is, the top of the screen(s) they are looking at should be roughly equal with their line of sight, if one screen is used more frequently than another it should be the one the person is facing, and the desk, keyboard, mouse and chair should be set up to provide 90-degree angles where possible. It may mean the employee needs a footstool, screen raisers or even a replacement chair, if the one they have is not suitable for working at home.

How does an employer do this?

Have your employee provide photos of them sitting at their desk, taken from all sides. Examine the positions of all equipment and advise the necessary changes. Have the employee then provide photos with the changes made.

Does the home office need to be separate from the rest of the employee’s house?

While this would be ideal, clearly not everyone’s home is going to allow for a separate home office. So long as the employee can show the space they are working from is safe, there should be no reason to insist they have a specific home office.

Work Environment

The health and safety checklist that the employee completes should check on the ways the employee can monitor and amend noise, temperature and lighting. You should also monitor the employee for a short time following the move to their home office to make sure they are not suffering from musculoskeletal problems or headaches due to their work environment.

How does an employer do this?

Have your employee complete a health and safety checklist that both asks whether the existing setup is sufficient, and if not, whether there are other options for example, moving a lamp so that the lighting is better. Have the employee send you photographs of their setup. Within the first week of them working from home, complete a further risk assessment to see if they are suffering any aches and pains as a result of working from their home office. Where risks are identified, work together with the employee to mitigate those risks.

Electrical Safety

The employer’s duty includes the need to make sure all electrical devices are safe. This is especially important in a home environment, where access to power may be limited, and the employee needs to have multiple devices available, for example, modem, computer and printer.

Power boards should have a safety switch. Most modern homes already have RCD switches along with fuses, but in older homes, having safety switches on power boards is a must. All cords for devices must be examined regularly and replaced if they are worn, with responsibility for replacing the items falling on the shoulders of the person/organisation who owns them.

How does an employer do this?

As part of your health and safety checklist, electrical equipment being used should be listed, and matters of electrical safety included as checked items. The employee needs to agree to test their safety switches and check their electrical cords every three months, and to replace these immediately if they are not satisfactory, with immediate reimbursement from the employer when the item in question belongs to them. A three-month safety checklist should be provided to the employee to facilitate this process.

First Aid and Emergency

An employer needs to be sure that their employee has access to emergency phone numbers. There needs to be an agreed procedure in case of emergency, and an agreed route from the worker’s desk or office to a safe outdoors location. They must have access to a suitable first aid kit and smoke detectors must be fitted and properly maintained. Where possible, a fire extinguisher or blanket should be available.

How does an employer do this?

When the employee starts working from home, provide them with a list of emergency numbers that they can place somewhere prominent in their workspace. Have the employee send you a short video of the route they will take from their workspace to a safe area outside, in case of fire. Have the employee agree to keep this route clean and clear. Have the employee photograph their first aid facilities and equipment, and check that these are sufficient; if they are not, provide the additional equipment that the employee needs. Have the employee send you photos of their smoke detectors and their locations, and have them agree to test these regularly (the first of April is set aside as the day to test fire alarms).

Putting these things into practice is going to be time consuming, however knowing that your employee is as safe as possible while working from home is your duty as an employer. Especially in these times of rolling lockdowns, working from home is becoming a common occurrence. Work with your employees to make sure they are safe.