Originally written by Chris Salmon on Small Business
An unprecedented number of employees are continuing to work remotely during the coronavirus pandemic. Small businesses new to managing remote staff are often unfamiliar with their legal health and safety responsibilities for homeworkers.
The migration to working from home (WFH) has presented many challenges for employers and employees. As companies have been forced to focus on business continuity, it is possible that remote workers’ health and safety will have been overlooked.
Legal responsibilities for homeworkers
Employers have the same legal duty of care for remote working employees.
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is the primary workplace safety legislation. The act makes no distinction between home and in-office workers.
The Management of Health and Safety Regulations 1999 specifically states that “employers are responsible for the health and safety of homeworkers, as far as is reasonably practicable”.
The regulations require employers to carry out a risk assessment of their employees’ workplace.
The assessment should identify any potential risks so the employer can then seek to remove or mitigate the risk.
According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), the home is the most common location for an accident to happen.
Although most homeworkers will be working at home
Tag Archive for Health and safety
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Should you be outsourcing health and safety for your small business?
by Partner Content • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
As your small business grows, it’s easy to forget about some of the basics.
When staff numbers keep growing and profits increase, your time becomes even more stretched.
Which is when you might start to let some of the smaller things slip, like does your premises still have a suitable number of WCs? Are your staff overloading electricity sockets? Do you have enough first aiders to cover everyone?
Although such examples might seem quite inconsequential, they’re important. Because when something goes wrong, such as an employee suffers an injury with no first aiders available to help, a business risks facing legal action and a damaging penalty fine.
See also: How to fill the health and safety knowledge gap in your business
According to the Government, small business considers health and safety as its biggest regulatory headache and the most substantial obstacle to success.
Of course, no employer sets out to put staff at risk. We understand why safety in the work environment is not only important but also essential. We know that if we don’t provide a safe working environment for our employees and for those who use our facilities, the consequences can be devastating. It’s most often just
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Health and safety checklist for small businesses
by Anna Jordan • • 0 Comments
It can seem baffling, but getting up-to-date with your health and safety is much simpler when broken down into smaller steps. Follow this checklist to help you through the process. Please note that, though health and safety law applies to all businesses, micro businesses with fewer than five employees don’t need to write down their
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Two-thirds of employees undermine workplace safety, survey shows
by Owen Gough • • 0 Comments
Employees are unwittingly undermining workplace safety by using ‘untested’ electrical devices in the work place. Almost 70 per cent of employees admit to plugging in personal mobile phone chargers at work, according to an independent survey carried out by office power supplier CMD. The danger lies in the amount of fake phone chargers currently in
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How to fill the health and safety knowledge gap in your business
by Ben Lobel • • 0 Comments
Understanding all the health and safety laws and regulations that impact businesses in the UK can be a tall order. It’s often challenging for Environmental Health and Safety managers to stay abreast of developments and changes, so it’s no surprise that uncertainty filters throughout an organisation. If you think you have health and safety knowledge
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Employees in the workplace are not taking health and safety seriously
by Owen Gough • • 0 Comments
More than a quarter of young people are failing to follow the health and safety procedures put in place by their employer and are putting themselves in danger, according to new research. The survey of 2,000 employees, working for businesses that have over five employees, finds 27 per cent of workers aged between 18 and
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Workers in dangerous jobs let down by poor health and safety procedures
by Owen Gough • • 0 Comments
A quarter of employees working in hazardous job roles believe their employers aren’t doing enough to protect their health and keep them safe at work. A quarter (25 per cent) of labourers in manual professions, such as construction, thought their company’s health and safety information didn’t go into enough detail about their role and the
The post Workers in dangerous jobs let down by poor health and safety procedures appeared first on Small Business.
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UK businesses are breaking basic health and safety laws
by Owen Gough • • 0 Comments
Almost two thirds of UK businesses are failing to meet basic health and safety laws and are putting their employees in danger, according to new research conducted ahead of Health and Safety Week. A survey of 2,000 employees, working for businesses that have over five employees, finds that 65 per cent have not received any information
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Outsourcing your health and safety needs
by Ben Lobel • • 0 Comments
Health and safety is often portrayed in a negative light, bearing the brunt of pedantic jokes. However, when it goes wrong, the impact on businesses can be catastrophic and all good humour is quickly forgotten. For this reason alone, ensuring health and safety is at the top of a company’s agenda is imperative. Larger firms
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New year, new workplace: Health and safety for 2017
by Ben Lobel • • 0 Comments
Why shouldn’t a business, just as an individual might do, take up a new year’s resolution to improve its performance and general health? We think that entering a new calendar year is the perfect opportunity to ensure that good practice is being adhered to across your company, especially when it comes to health and safety.
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