Remote or not, WHS doesn’t stop

Over the past few years, we’ve transitioned from viewing working from home (WFH) as a luxury offered to very few employees to the new normal for most desk-based jobs. While the pandemic forced us to embrace remote working options, it also meant employers had to extend and adapt their Work Health and Safety (WHS) obligations to remote workspaces. While the pandemic is over, WFH and remote work is still very common. So how do businesses prevent WHS risks for remote workers?

In this article, we explain the WHS risks of working remotely, who’s responsible for ensuring that employees are working safely at home and how to manage physical hazards even when your workforce is remote.

What are the WHS risks of working from home?

Along with all the advantages that WFH can offer, this arrangement can also create WHS risks and employers are required to manage. In this post-COVID world, it’s more common for employees to work from home, and this can lead to various physical hazards and concerns. It’s important to review and monitor whatever WFH arrangements are put in place so that employers can meet their WHS obligations to identify, manage, and eliminate risks.

Key considerations that may affect the physical safety of employees working from home or remotely include:

• Management of the work program, workload, activities and working hours.
• Surrounding work environment including family relationships and the risk of domestic or family violence.
• Workstation set up, such as desk, chair, monitor/s, keyboard, mouse, and computer (ergonomic set up).
• Work practices and physical activity.
• Pre-existing injuries of the employee.
• Other responsibilities the worker may have such as facilitating online learning for children or a caring role.

Where does the responsibility lie for ensuring employees have a safe workstation set up at home?

In line with WHS regulations, the onus is on the employer to take all reasonable steps to ensure an employee’s health and safety while at work. This duty of care extends to remote workplaces including the home.

Reasonable steps include consulting with workers, assessing risks, and acting to ensure their workstations and home working environments are correctly set up to reduce and eliminate the risk of potential musculoskeletal injuries and other physical injuries.

What steps can be taken to maintain safety at home?

Just as an employer would manage WHS risks in the workplace, they also need to manage the risks that working from home presents to employees. So, to ensure that employers are meeting their obligations of keeping their employees safe at home, they should do the following:

• Complete a risk assessment of the intended workplace (whether WFH or office) for each employee. A health and safety checklist could be used to ensure the assessment addresses the various risks (e.g., lighting, back support, trip hazards).
• Provide training for workers to ensure their home working environment has been appropriately set up.
• Provide workers with appropriate emergency management information and emergency phone numbers.
• Regularly communicate with your workers who work from home.
• Ensure staff are managing their workload and work timeframes appropriately, to avoid long working hours.
• Provide suitable planning, management, and communication processes for organisational changes as they occur.
• Ensure that all workers are aware of resources that are available to them in the event of domestic or family violence, including entitlements like paid leave, and services such as confidential counselling.
• Encourage employees to establish a safe workspace in the home with a designated work area, comfortable and hazard-free access, and adequate lighting and ventilation.
• Stay connected and support your workforce by creating an effective communication structure with regular check-ins, and team and individual catchups.
• Encourage your employees to maintain a work-life balance: help them to define the workplace, avoid distractions, and follow routines.
• Monitor absenteeism and incident reports, and identify any patterns that could suggest a worker is suffering adverse physical effects from working from home.

While employers need to meet their WHS obligations, even when their employees WFH, it’s also important to remember that employees have health and safety obligations to help minimise their risks when conducting their job remotely and include:

• Following safety policies and procedures.
• Safely operating equipment including their personal devices and company-issued equipment.
• Maintaining a safe work environment, such as creating a designated work area, moving furniture to ensure comfortable access, providing adequate lighting and ventilation, repairing any uneven surfaces, or removing trip hazards.
• Managing their in-house safety, such as maintaining electrical equipment and installing and maintaining smoke alarms.
• Notifying the employer about risks or potential risks and hazards.
• Reporting any changes that may affect their health and safety when working from home.

WFH arrangements have become a highly effective working tool that has the potential to increase the productivity and happiness of employees. However, just because the staff are away from the office or usual worksite, doesn’t mean that employers have any fewer obligations when it comes to WHS.

Employers must continue to take all reasonable steps to ensure health and safety, but where the business doesn’t have access to the employee’s home, this requires a more collaborative and educational approach to ensure the employees themselves are equipped to monitor and reduce any physical hazards that may arise.

Citation Safety

Australia’s workplace laws are complex and confusing which can make it hard to know if you’re doing everything right when it comes to WHS. Citation Safety give you the tools, technology, advice and support you need to build a positive safety culture in your workplace. You’ll be able to access our on-demand specialist health and safety management advice, industry-leading WHS management software, a comprehensive audit of your safety processes, and a library of safety resources – everything your business needs to lead a safe work environment.

About our author

Olivia Perry is a qualified Senior Workplace Relations Consultant at Citation HR. She regularly provides advice to a large range of clients in relation to workplace laws and management of complex workplace matters.