Working from Home

To provide staff, their managers and employers with the relevant information they need to successfully manage risks to health and wellbeing linked to working from home.

• Awareness of the different types of, and reasons for, home working.  

• Understanding the pros and cons of working from home, both for individuals and their employer.

• Appreciation of the legal duties of employers and staff as regards home working, including the extent of an employer’s obligations.

• Understanding the main risks to physical and mental health from working at home, and how these can be addressed. 

The phrase ‘working from home’ can mean a number of different things.

It can refer to being mainly office-based, but doing the odd piece of work from home as and when required, on an informal, ad-hoc basis. Or you might have a more formal agreement, for example to be permanently based at home, or to regularly work from home for one or more days a week, rather than coming into the office.

Having flexibility like this to agree where and when you work is known as hybrid working. Working from home can also be a temporary response to business interruption, such as fire or flood. During the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, when lockdown restrictions came into force millions of people across the world had no alternative but to work from home, to reduce face-to-face contact and infection rates.

For many, working from home has been a positive experience overall. As restrictions ease and more us are able to return to the office, hybrid working patterns are set to become much more common than they were before the pandemic.

Managing the risks from fire in private homes is obviously different from doing the same in a controlled office environment.

But there are important steps your staff can take to minimise their risks.  These are;

• Fire detection equipment such as smoke alarms gives you and others a chance to evacuate safely before it’s too late. From February 2022, every home in Scotland must have smoke detectors  – plus a heat alarm installed in the kitchen – which are all connected to each other. 
• Doors slow down the spread of flames, smoke and gases so make sure these are closed at night.
• More fires begin in the kitchen than any other room in the house. Never leave a cooker unattended while it is in use.
• Keep lit candles away from children, pets, curtains and any other flammable materials.
• If a fire does happen, the basic advice is simple – get out, stay out and call 999. Having and practicing a fire escape plan helps everyone to know what to do, and how to get out if your main route of escape is blocked.

Echo3 also offer Fire Safety training for staff.

Yes.  This Working From Home course provides general information about working from home, and is mainly aimed at staff performing low-risk activities such as office work.  Staff may also require Display Screen Equipment training.

If you have any queries about your organisation’s specific home working procedures, please contact your employer for more information. See full UK Health & Safety guidance – HERE