Homeworking Workshop

Pam SavillAccount Director

Risk Management Partners Limited

Introduction

Definition

Advantages for employees and employers

Considerations

Legal Requirements

Responsibilities of both parties

Hazards

Insurance Implications

Risk Assessment

Practical Example

Definition

What is homeworking?A homeworker has been defined as an employee who

works all or a significant part of their time at or from home using computer and communications equipment provided by his or her employer.

Advantages for employees

Increased Responsibility in the management of his/her time

Freedom to arrange their working hours to suit any domestic commitments

Savings on travelling costs and timeAbility to work without distraction

Advantages for employers

Retention of valued and skilled staff who have domestic commitments

Well motivated staff who feel they work for an organisation that is prepared to be flexible and trusts them

A method of alleviating the problems of shared offices and lack of office space

Increased output as fewer distractions

Considerations

Not every employee is suitable- individuals need to be self motivated and able to set their own agenda of work- they need to be independent- they need to not feel isolated away from work colleagues

Not every job is suitable- the work should be conveniently carried out and be capable of being managed from a remote location- managers should ensure that advantages outweigh the disadvantages- the employees output should be clearly measurable in terms of quality and quantity

Considerations (cont)

Managers need to ensure that the proposed work place is adequate in terms of space and lighting and that it is able to take the equipment required.

The work place needs to be conducive to work

Legal Requirements

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 places duties on employers, self-employed people and employees.

Under HSWA employers have a duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees, including homeworkers

Legal Requirements

Most of the Regulations made under HSWA apply to homeworkers as well as to employees working at an employers workplace.

These include:-- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations - The Display Screen Equipment Regulations - The Manual Handling Operations Regulations - The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations - The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regs

Legal Requirements

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers are required to do a risk assessment of the work activities carried out by homeworkers.

Completing a risk assessment involves identifying the hazards relating to the homeworkers activities and deciding whether enough steps have been taken to prevent harm to them or to anyone else who may be affected by their work.

Legal Requirements

Risk Assessments should be recorders and reviewed on an annual basis.

We will look at Risk Assessments in more detail later on.

Legal Requirements

Other considerations are:- Data Protection Act

Freedom of Information Act and the ability to retrieve information that is kept at employees homes..

Responsibilities of the Employer/Manager

To ensure that a Risk Assessment is made of any activities that the employee will be expected to carry out from home

To ensure that any recommendations made as a result of the risk assessment are implemented within appropriate timeframes

To ensure records are kept of all assessments carried out as well as training provided, equipment maintenance, accidents etc

Responsibilities of the Employee

Employees who work from home have a duty to cooperate with their manager and comply with safe systems of work put in place

They also have a responsibility to carry out their work in accordance with their training and to report any work related accidents, near misses or other safety concerns to their manager

Hazards

The most common hazards associated with homeworking include:- VDU work- Manual Handling activities- Slips, trips and falls- The working environment- Electricity- Fire- Work Equipment

Hazards

Additional hazards that may be associated with homeworking include:-- Violence and Lone Working- Stress- Driving

Insurance Implications

A claim for loss of or damage to any Council owned equipment whilst it is located in the home of an employee will usually be covered by the Council under its Property risk financing arrangements (either insurance or through a self funding mechanism)

The Council’s duty of care to such employees continue whilst they are working in their own homes. The Council’s liability policies will apply in exactly the same way as they do for other employees

Insurance Implications

Employees should advise their own household buildings and contents insurers since their homeworking activities might be considered to be a material fact of which the insurers need to be made aware

Risk Assessment

Identify any hazardsEstablish who might be harmed and howAssess the risks and take appropriate action to remove

them or reduce them as far as possibleRecord the findingsCheck the risks from time to time and take further steps if

needed

Risk Assessment

Identify any hazardso Look at what may cause harm to the homeworker or other people

as a result of the work being done in the home

o Can be done as a visit to the employees home or as a self assessment by the employee

o Common hazards include using work equipment at home, using electrical equipment for work at home and working with VDU’s

Risk Assessment

Establish who might be harmed and howo Employers must look at who may be affected by the work done at

home and how they may be affected

o This may include the homeworker, members of the household including children and visitors

Risk Assessment

Assess the risks and take appropriate action to remove them or reduce them as far as possibleo If a hazard is discovered that may be a risk to the homeworkers or

anyone’s health and safety, the employer needs to decide what steps have to be taken to eliminate or reduce those risks as far as possible

o This will depend on whether the hazard is low or high risk

o Level of risk can be determined by looking at what type of harm or injury may arise and how often it may happen

Risk Assessment

Record the findingso An employer is required by law to record the significant findings

from a risk assessment

o They need to record what steps have to be taken and tell the homeworkers and anyone else affected of the findings

Risk Assessment

Check the risks from time to time and take further steps if neededo The risk assessment should be revisited from time to time

especially if there is a change in working procedures

o This needs to take into account any new hazards

Practical Example

Practical Example

Get into groupsLook at the pictures which follow and try to identify some

of the hazards in relation to the workplace shown

Any Questions?