If you have people working from home then you do absolutely need to know what you are and are not responsible for.

Helpfully, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have now specifically stated “As an employer, you have the same health and safety responsibilities for people working at home as for any other worker.”

And yes, that covers people who work remotely on a full-time basis and anyone who’s working on a hybrid model. 

So that’s pretty clear then isn’t it?

Risk Assessments

The HSE then go on to talk about the things you should include in your risk assessment for homeworkers, i.e.

1. stress and poor mental health
2. working with display screen equipment
3. their working environment.

I think it’s really interesting that while they do focus on the practicalities of working with screens and how desks and working spaces are set up, there’s also a notable emphasis on mental health and stresses that can be caused or exacerbated by working from home.

It’s clear that you must protect workers from stress at work and the location of work is itself irrelevant. 

You can read the whole guidance from HSE but in the meantime, it’s well worth reviewing your homeworking risk assessments and, where necessary, giving them an overhaul.

If you have questions or need to know more on this frankly chilly morning, please give me a shout.