These are
not show stoppers but require a process to be put in place that will reduce the
related risk on behalf of both the employer and employee.
Background - Case Study
By way of
example, there was the recent court case where an employee working for home for
a large Telecommunications carrier fell twice in the space of two months whilst
going up a flight of stairs in her socks and injuring herself. Solicitor Rachael James, of Slater and Gordon, said it was a significant
win for her client who had left Brisbane to live with her parents in Victoria
because of her medical and financial circumstances. "She can't dress
herself for work. She is unable to do up a bra or a shirt, or carry a
laptop," Ms James said. "She's going to get a whole back payment from
the date of the injury up until today, and depending on what the medical
evidence says going forward, she could continue to receive those payments until
she's 65." The employee is 42 years old and the financial cost could be
very significant.
The impact
of this ruling therefore offers a serious risk to any employer considering
allowing their employees to work from home and must be properly managed.
How to manage the risk?
The answer
is not to restrict employees from working from home. Rather, the employer
should have a process in place that requires the employee to undertake a risk assessment
of the home work environment and surrounds.
This
assessment would require the employee to undertake a formal evaluation of all
the risks that might cause a potential injury. The evaluation generally follows
a check list of likely hazards that the employee may incur in the home, rating
the likelihood, consequence, ranking and what they intend to do about reducing
the risk.
When
complete, this form is then returned to the office and signed by the employee
and authorised by the employer. If the employer considers the risk too high
they will not authorise home work until they are satisfied that the employee
has addressed the issues.
Why bother?
The
advantage of implementing a process that leverages this approach is that it
ensures the employee is made aware of the likely risks they may incur whilst
working from home. This therefore reduces the risk of injury in the first
place. More importantly however, a structured risk
evaluation process provides evidence to the court that the employer has taken
their workplace health and safety responsibilities seriously and places the
responsibility back on the employee to take responsibility for their own
welfare.
Where does Work Cover fit in?
Naturally
there is always the chance that an employee will injure themselves on the way
to work, whilst at work or working from home. The important question to be
asked is “is the employer culpable”? The answer to this question is that if the
company’s OH&S standards have been followed, then you can be comfortable that
you as the employer will not be held responsible. Accordingly, your work cover insurance will
cover the related costs. Do check to make sure that your work cover policy
covers home workers.
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