Homeworking%20Workshop%20Pam%20Savill%20Account%20Director%20Risk%20Management%20Partners%20Limited

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Homeworking WorkshopPam SavillAccount
DirectorRisk Management Partners Limited
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Introduction

• Definition
• Advantages for employees and employers
• Considerations
• Legal Requirements
• Responsibilities of both parties
• Hazards
• Insurance Implications
• Risk Assessment
• Practical Example

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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.

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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 time
• Ability to work without distraction

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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Legal Requirements

• Risk Assessments should be recorders and reviewed
  on an annual basis.
• We will look at Risk Assessments in more detail
  later on.

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Legal Requirements

• Other considerations are-
• Data Protection Act
• Freedom of Information Act and the ability to
  retrieve information that is kept at employees
  homes..

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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

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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

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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

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Hazards

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

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

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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

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Risk Assessment

• Identify any hazards
• Establish who might be harmed and how
• Assess the risks and take appropriate action to
  remove them or reduce them as far as possible
• Record the findings
• Check the risks from time to time and take
  further steps if needed

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Risk Assessment

• Identify any hazards
• Look at what may cause harm to the homeworker or
  other people as a result of the work being done
  in the home
• Can be done as a visit to the employees home or
  as a self assessment by the employee
• Common hazards include using work equipment at
  home, using electrical equipment for work at home
  and working with VDUs

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Risk Assessment

• Establish who might be harmed and how
• Employers must look at who may be affected by the
  work done at home and how they may be affected
• This may include the homeworker, members of the
  household including children and visitors

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Risk Assessment

• Assess the risks and take appropriate action to
  remove them or reduce them as far as possible
• If a hazard is discovered that may be a risk to
  the homeworkers or anyones health and safety,
  the employer needs to decide what steps have to
  be taken to eliminate or reduce those risks as
  far as possible
• This will depend on whether the hazard is low or
  high risk
• Level of risk can be determined by looking at
  what type of harm or injury may arise and how
  often it may happen

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Risk Assessment

• Record the findings
• An employer is required by law to record the
  significant findings from a risk assessment
• They need to record what steps have to be taken
  and tell the homeworkers and anyone else affected
  of the findings

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Risk Assessment

• Check the risks from time to time and take
  further steps if needed
• The risk assessment should be revisited from time
  to time especially if there is a change in
  working procedures
• This needs to take into account any new hazards

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Practical Example
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Practical Example

• Get into groups
• Look at the pictures which follow and try to
  identify some of the hazards in relation to the
  workplace shown

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Any Questions?