2 April A homeworking DSE guide for employers due to COVID-19 Health & Safety matters for homeworking As the employer, you still have a duty to ensure the health, safety and well-being of employees while working from home. There is also a legal obligation to assess risks for those who use display screen equipment (DSE) which will include: Computers laptops, mobile devices, etc. Where a risk is identified, measures are needed to reduce the risk. In the case of working at home as a precautionary measure due to coronavirus, consider a practical approach to these requirements. The most sensible way to comply with DSE regulations and evaluate a “workstation set-up” is to ask employees to self-evaluate their workstation at home. The will be similar to the office, but it is understood the “office set up” or an area deemed to be a home office could be: Kitchen Dining table. Spare room Home office Edge of a coffee table The employer should, therefore, evaluate the results of the assessment and address any problems that prevent the employee from installing an adequate workplace at home. You should then have a conversation with your employee’s about workable solutions you need to make homeworking a feasible. During these unprecedented times, it’s not expected that employers should arrange for expensive equipment like chairs, tables etc. to be provided. These items may take a few weeks to be supplied. We should also remember that the self-isolate period advised by the UK Government will be a temporary measure. However, if there are employees who have already been provided with alternative equipment in their usual workplace, e.g. Ergonomic desk, chair or mouse assesses whether the employee can take them to use at home. If this is the case, it should also be noted that the equipment but be clean before it is returned to the workplace this will include: Ergonomic desks Chairs Keyboards and mice Laptops Laptop riser Screens Mobile equipment And any other equipment provided. Some employees could have a medical condition or conditions that require a different workplace. For homework as a temporary and precautionary measure, if you cannot find a suitable workstation it cannot be replicated at home, temporary homework may not be feasible, and the employee may simply continue to work normally. It must be noted here, that if an employee has been advised to self-isolate due to COVID-19. At this point, they cannot work from home, and they should be classed as on sick leave. Do I need to provide additional equipment for the correct set-up of the workstation? Since homeworking to prevent the spread of coronavirus is a temporary measure, both employers and employees should work together to agree on what makes a workstation suitable for the home. As part of planning when introducing homework, consider the cost and availability of additional equipment, hardware and IT software to facilitate homework. This will also include the use of cloud-based systems to work remotely. Some employees may usually work from printed documents and cannot complete their work differently; this type of work could be: Accountants Wages clerks Credit control Import and Exports Sending printed documents to an employee’s home could be arranged but must remain in-line with the GDPR instead of providing a printer. Of course, as indicated above, if this becomes impractical for any reason, or if homework becomes unworkable, then an agreement to attend the office should be considered. If this a workable option there must be a system of working which incorporates lone working. Wherever possible, the business should make every effort to get employees to work from electronic documentation. It is understandable it may slow down the work so extra time must be considered. As these are unprecedented times, within the health and safety sector we are keeping a close eye on the HSE and other governmental departments and we are making every effort to keep clients as up to date as possible during this time. Why not talk about your concerns or questions with us?