Home Working
Many people work from home either on an occasional, permanent or part time basis. These individuals may be either self-employed or employed, but all require risk assessments covering every aspect of their work.
We can work with these groups to identify and document risks and where necessary find solutions, in all areas including childcare providers. As home working is an environment that offers many challenges, we offer a sensitive approach fully aware that we are encroaching upon your employees home.
It is particularly important that home workers who use display screen equipment as a daily part of their role have a DSE assessment. An inadequate workstation set up can have a detrimental effect on the health and wellbeing of the user which can potentially lead to headaches, eye strain, carpal tunnel amongst others. As poor posture is one of the main causes of musculoskeletal injuries we can highlight what adjustments may be needed to improve the workstation set up, even minor adjustments can significantly improve a user’s posture such as raising or lowering the monitor.
The importance of regular breaks away from DSE use is often disregarded. As many employees are no longer travelling to work, as an employer it is essential that they are reminded of the need to take regular breaks.
Lone Working
Most individuals work on their own at some point as part of their time at work. When working alone you are often exposed to greater risks than when working with others. Without the additional assistance of a colleague in difficult situations it is important that lone workers have an awareness of the safety procedures in place before commencing work. Identifying the risks to your lone worker and putting in place suitable control measures will help to ensure that all employees return home at the end of the day injury free.
With a reported 1.3 million non-fatal workplace crimes occurring in the workplace every year between 2015 and 2019, it has never been more importance to assess the risks to lone workers of workplace violence.
The four primary forms of workplace violence are
Criminal intent - by way of robbery or assault. Lone workers, particularly in sectors like retail or service, are particularly susceptible to theft or physical attacks by strangers entering their workplace.
Customer or client - related violence - wherein escalating interactions between lone workers engaged in direct customer service can lead to verbal abuse or physical aggression.
Worker-to-worker violence - within the workplace itself as lone workers, even in isolation, might experience harassment or bullying from colleagues, and conflicts among coworkers can balloon into violent incidents.
Personal or domestic violence - most often perpetrated by individuals external to the workplace. Such incidents are alarmingly common as abusers may target their victims, who are lone workers, leveraging knowledge of their precise location during work hours.
We can work with you to apply strategies enhancing safety measures for lone workers. As an external consultant our advice is impartial and unbiased, identifying potential hazards and areas for improvement that may have been overlooked or become common place. It is proven that when businesses place an importance on health and safety in the workplace, attitudes to work and production levels are increased.