Temporary Homeworkers: Practical Advice
When the COVID-19 crisis struck and the UK, like many other countries, went into lockdown, millions of workers were quickly sent home to work. In normal times, home workers, also known as remote workers, would be hired to work from home and would be provided with a desk and other office-like equipment. They would then adhere to the Health and Safety Executive's, other regulators', and ergonomics professionals' recommendations for maintaining neutral posture and reducing health risks.
Temporary home workers do not have this extravagance in today's environment. Temporary home workers will most likely be working from furniture, dining room tables, beds, kitchen stools, and other workspaces and using materials intended only for short-term use due to the change's rapidity. The HSE took the initiative early to clarify the situation, stating that "there is no increased risk from DSE work for those working from home temporarily." Employers do not need to conduct home workstation assessments in that case." They state in a tweet dated March 20th that DSE workstation assessments are not required for temporary homeworkers.
But, what exactly does the term "temporary homeworker" imply?
We must be cautious when determining what constitutes a temporary homeworker. Initially, it appeared that lockdown was for a set amount of time, and the term "temporary" was used to describe it. Lockdown, on the other hand, is likely to last longer. The government announced last night that the lockdown would be extended for another three weeks. Furthermore, we might expect a full 'exit' from lockdown, including vulnerable people, to be implemented only once a vaccine or herd immunity has been achieved.
Until then, which could take a long time, the threat of resurgence is very real and potentially devastating. We previously stated that standard DSE assessments would only reveal many risks that you will be unable to address on risk assessments.
Temporary Homeworker Training and Assessment
We've reached the point where assessments should be considered, according to Pinsent Mason. Also, assessments should be practical and address the real issues at hand. The most important takeaway from this piece of advice is that temporary homeworker training and assessment will be critical components of your strategy. It would help if you tried to provide practical advice for your employee's current situation and set up a simple, practical risk assessment. This will assist you in keeping your employees safe. Based on, for example, the Health and Safety Executive DSE workstation checklist, you can create your simple risk assessment to address home working.