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Following on from Part 1 of our health and safety focused series of articles for employers in which we shared a number of resources on the subject of workplace and commuter social distancing, we are now exploring the subject of home working health and safety, again detailing what the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is advising and providing links to relevant official resources.

Home working during the coronavirus situation

With so much of the UK workforce now operating from home, many employers have been presented with a new set of potential challenges.

It is important to be aware that employers have the same responsibility to home workers as they do to the rest of their workforce. Issues such as lone working without supervision, DSE safety and stress and mental health must all be considered.

Lone working, stress and mental health

The HSE advises that employers should consider how they will keep in regular contact with remote workers; what work activity they will expect them to do and for how long; whether that work can be done safely, and if control measures should be put in place to protect them.

It is common for people working remotely to feel detached and sometimes abandoned, especially if they are used to working as part of a team, or in an open plan office environment where they have others around them for support throughout the day. Feelings like these can lead to stress and mental health issues, so it is vitally important for employers to take steps to protect those working alone.

Simple strategies can include setting up a WhatsApp group amongst team members so they can all share advice and offer support throughout the day; fixing a set time for a manager to call each day to check-in, or arranging a virtual coffee break on Zoom or Skype once or twice a day where remote workers can all connect, take a breather and have a chat. These are all good ideas that will help workers feel they are not alone. In addition, an emergency point of contact should always be assigned so everyone knows there is help on hand should they need it.

On the subject of workplace stress, whilst it can be more difficult when staff are working remotely, it remains essential that employers take steps to recognise the signs of stress as early as possible. Training managers and supervisors is essential, as is monitoring to ensure they are keeping in regular contact with their remote teams.

Display Screen Equipment Safety

The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 are in place to protect users of display screen equipment (DSE), and they extend to those working from home on a long term basis, which means a workstation risk assessment is required.

For staff working from home temporarily, the HSE says there is no need to do a home workstation risk assessment. It is however advisable to provide workers with advice so that they can undertake their own basic assessment. This DSE workstation checklist should prove useful.

PMR Solutions can provide employers with a simple online questionnaire to gather information from their employees to understanding their homeworking arrangements.

Sharing advice such as taking regular breaks; changing position every so often; getting up and moving about and doing stretching exercises is important and helpful. The HSE says that employers should also try to meet any specialised DSE needs wherever possible.

Keeping up to date

Keeping up to date with changing advice during these uncertain times is vital. Always take care to consult official sources, such as those linked to within this article.

The HSE's dedicated coronavirus information hub is a good central resource providing useful information relevant to a range of industry sectors.