Health And Safety Issues for WFH Employees

Protecting workers from health and safety risks is an ongoing challenge for an employer. However, given the unprecedented circumstances where lockdown safety measures have enforced many employees to WFH, risk management has become even more complex. Let’s learn about some health and safety issues faced by employees in a situation where their homes have also become their offices.

The first fundamental question – how much control-at-a-distance does a company want / can actually control? A person’s home may be subject to more crime risk than the head office, and there are even fewer guarantees that snow and ice will be cleaned at a home entry after a storm. A supervisor or safety representative is not likely going to inspect or visit the personal space of a home office, so traditional thinking about the safety in a home-as-a-workplace is fundamentally different. 

Another important question - what hours of work that have been agreed to? That agreement should be diligently followed – with no more or less discipline than when working at a head office. If it’s the ‘COVID-norm’ to add hours of work from home, and blurr start and finish times of work, then an incident that results in injury is more likely to be considered work-related. For example, a slip-and-fall on the porch stairs is likely going to be considered work-related even if it happens while going to get both office supplies and dinner – especially when an employee is in the habit of running last minute errands for the supervisor as the new COVID-norm. A clear separation of work time and work activity needs to be written into company policy. In addition, standards for home office work e.g. desk set-up also needs to be written. Lastly, a reqular check-in communication or even inspection from the employee may be required to show that standards are being adhered to in order to control hazards. 

So what hazards can we universally expect in a home office?



Weather and Fire Emergencies

Every employer must have robust emergency procedures and plans for their workplace. However, they need to ensure that the workers are trained to use these skills when working from home too. These employees might reside in a different cities than where the company operates, which means they might also experience different weather.

If your employee lives in an older home that has electrical issues or a less reliable structure, it can lead to injuries. Whether it's a natural disaster or fire eruption, you can safeguard your employees by providing proper health and safety training courses online.

Poor Ergonomics

Employers typically provide in-office employees with high-quality ergonomic supplies and furniture. But what about workers that are working remotely from home? These employees may be at a high risk of developing health problems over time if they don’t have access to proper ergonomic workstations.

For example, they may suffer from tendonitis, carpal tunnel, strains, and sprains if they continue to work at an improperly adjusted workstation without a mouse or wrist rest. An unsupportive chair or work table can lead to poor blood circulation, shoulder and neck pain, muscle weakness or tension, and more issues that can eventually lead to musculoskeletal disorders.

What Can Responsible Employers Do?

There are a number of direct requirements under the Occupational Health and Safety Act to conduct risk assessments e.g. violence, hazardous materials, and even a “General Duty Clause” (In Ontario, Part III of the OHS Act, 25 (2)(h)) implies the employer’s responsibility to identify and control exposure to hazards.  More precisely, the General Duty Clause implies the need to perform a risk assessment, rather than guessing what controls are needed, in order to establish what a ‘reasonable’ control is. For example, the General Duty Clause is often cited as the ‘indirect’ legal requirement for the need to conduct a Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD) assessment that is, in turn, needed to fulfill the steps in Ontario’s MSD Guideline. Ask is it reasonable for a company to provide sit-stand workstations for home offices? Is it reasonable to require 50 client calls per day? Only a risk assessment will help answer those types of questions.

Many employers have initiated the provision of appropriate ergonomic workstations for employees working from home, which can be returned to the employer when requested. Employers can set online health & safety training sessions by consulting experts at Premier Proactive Education (PPE) LTD.

Therefore, whether there is a direct or indirect legal requirement, all employers must conduct sufficient and suitable risk assessments for all work-related activities carried out by the workers – including people who work from home.

In addition, from a practical perspective, even before the COVID-19 virus, there were practical difficulties limiting employers from entering into their employees’ homes.  However, risk assessments, and a follow-up employee self-inspection process can help without a direct in-person visit. 

It is a good start to train employees to be a part of the risk assessment process and help inform the employer about any potential hazards that the employer might be able to address to mitigate. It should be noted that many employees never had to understand or appreciate risk in their past, so further education is often very helpful. What one employee perceives as ‘high’ risk may be interpreted as ‘low’ risk by another!  

We offer comprehensive training courses, including ways to become COVID-19-compliant, hazard inspection training, first aid training, and health & safety representative Newmarket, among others.

Reach out to us to learn more.