Ninety Percent Of Home Work Environments Are Unsafe

According to research undertaken by one of the country’s leading ergonomic consulting firms, Ergoworks, approximately 90 per cent of Australian workers are working in unsafe environments.

Over the past five years, Ergoworks has conducted over one thousand home workplace assessments for businesses across Australia. Of the workstations audited, nine in every ten were unsafe and required rectification, thereby highlighting that employers had failed in their obligation to provide a safe home work environment for their employees.

Marnie Douglas, Director of Ergoworks said, “Employers have an obligation to provide a safe working environment for workers, whether they are working from home or in the office. Employers are generally oblivious to the working conditions that employees have established in their own premises. It is not uncommon for home workers to work in unsafe environments including working from kitchen benchtops, on bedside tables or with the laptop on their lap.”

“As a direct result of such poor workplace practices and unsafe environments, workers are increasingly suffering neck and back injuries. These subsequently impact on their productivity and eventually lead to an unsatisfactory end result for employers with higher rates of absenteeism and reduced work output. The central issue is that home workers are not setting up their work stations safely. This deficiency is the responsibility of employers to address and has significant potential to become a litigation nightmare.”

Over 764,700 Australian workers are now working from home at least two days each week, with this figure continuing to rise. There are a number of questions that employers are now starting to ask regarding their responsibilities surrounding home workers.  This follows the recent high profile home worker litigation case where a Telstra employee successfully sued the company, after she fell down stairs and sustained significant injuries while working from home.

Ms Douglas continued, “Unfortunately most employers have a limited knowledge base when determining whether a home worker’s environment is safe. There are however, several proactive measures to address this situation. These include ensuring a well-documented home working policy, setting up home offices with the same working requirements as an office environment and engaging external Occupational Health and Safety consultants to undertake risk assessments.”

“It is imperative that employers implement the appropriate measures to provide a safe working environment for employees working from home, to ensure they do not become litigation casualties,” concluded Ms Douglas.

Risk assessments for home workstations audit a number of key elements. These include all equipment used by the employee - chair, desk, keyboard, mouse, phone etc; the configuration of this equipment including its positioning; and the adequacy for lighting. The location of smoke alarms, fire exits and first aid kits are also scrutinised in addition to fire extinguisher access. Trip hazards are examined while exit routes are also considered. Advice is also provided on posture alignment as well as rest and stretch breaks.

Ergoworks is one of the leading providers of ergonomic solutions across Australia. The company provides advice to several prominent organisations some including Slater and Gordon, Nutricia Australia, BNP Paribas, Grant Thornton, KPMG, Foxtel, Teachers Health Fund, UBS, Google and government departments.

For further information visit www.ergonomics-ohs.com.au