Can You Afford To Ignore Unsafe Home Workspaces?
The notion that an employee can receive workers’ compensation for a workplace injury, incurred outside of the workplace or their typical working hours, is not new.
Take the case of a Telstra employee who was awarded compensation after a fall while working from home [1] or the teacher who successfully claimed worker’s compensation for injuries sustained when she slipped on the stairs while going to her car to retrieve work related materials [2].
While these cases pre-date the pandemic, the case of Workers Compensation Nominal Insurer v Hill [2020] NSWCA 54 [3], in which compensation was paid to the dependants of a worker who died while working from home, should serve as a warning to employers to take health & safety in the home workspace seriously.
Working From Home Was Found To Have Contributed To The Worker’s Death
In brief, the case of Workers Compensation Nominal Insurer v Hill [2020] NSWCA 54 involved a worker who was assaulted and killed by her domestic partner, who was mentally ill, while working from home. She was attacked early in the morning, in her pyjamas and in her bedroom and there was no evidence that she had undertaken any work that day.
Despite this, due in-part to the victim’s pattern of working with her partner, beyond normal business hours and evidence that her bedroom contained work-related materials, her death was deemed work-related and, therefore, compensable. Her partner was not convicted of murder on the grounds of insanity.
While the circumstances of this case are unique, the outcome demonstrates the increasingly blurred lines between work and home. Now, in 2022, with millions of Australians working from home, it seems that the scope for injuries, be they physical or mental, to be causally linked to employment has become significantly greater, particularly for those employees with flexible work arrangements involving working outside traditional hours, on weekends or being on-call.
With the numbers of people working remotely and the added pressures of the pandemic, one would expect there to be a renewed effort by businesses to ensure safe WFH setups and conditions for their employees and to identify whether any factors in a worker's personal or home life might contribute to a risk of workplace injury.
However, having spoken with many business leaders throughout the pandemic, I’ve been left wondering why so many employers are still failing to adequately protect themselves and their organisations against the impending wave of claims and litigation related to remote working?
Working From Home Presents Additional Risks And Barriers
Compared To The Traditional Office, The Home Workspace Presents Significantly Greater Risk For Businesses Due To A Much More Complicated Circumstances And Barriers To Intervention For The Employer:
Poor Home Workstation Ergonomics
Home workspaces often feature equipment that is improperly set up or not suited to the individual and their tasks. This can have a huge impact on workers’ physical and mental wellbeing over time.
Unhealthy Workspace Environmental Factors
Factors Like Noise Levels, Room Temperatures, Lighting, And Ventilation Can All Have An Effect On Worker Wellbeing But Can Be Difficult To Identify And Address In An Individual Worker’s Home.
Unhealthy Work Practices
Working from home has been linked to overworking, lack of exercise, failing to take breaks and disruption of normal routines, all of which can lead to physical and mental health issues.
Electrical Safety, First Aid And Emergency
Lack of access to first aid, damaged electrical cables, overloaded power boards or un-serviced smoke detectors all present a potential WHS risk to the employer.
Physical Injury Caused By Slips, Trips And Falls
Floors and walkways must be kept clear of trip hazards, even in the home. It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that
Psychosocial Risks
Working in isolation without their usual support networks may expose a worker to an increased risk of mental health issues and family or domestic violence.
Privacy Concerns
A fine line exists between ensuring the health and safety of remote workers while respecting their right to privacy and autonomy in their own home.
What Are An Employer’s Obligations?
Under the model WHS laws, you have a duty of care for the health and safety of workers and others at the workplace. This includes where your worker is working from home. You must consult with workers and take all reasonable steps to ensure their workstations are correctly setup to reduce potential musculoskeletal injuries.' [6]
Are You Doing Enough To Comply?
To comply with Australian WHS laws, an employer must demonstrate that they have exercised 'all reasonably practicable measures' to support the health, safety and wellbeing of remote workers.
I’ve spoken with many business leaders to find out how they handled the sudden shift to remote working at the beginning of the pandemic. By far the most common response is that they provided workers with a laptop, emailed out some health & safety messaging and instructed their team to ‘self-assess’ their home workspaces against a WHS checklist.
When I ask what they’ve done since then to evaluate the efficacy of those measures and ensure they’re continuing to meeting the current needs of their team, I’m often met with awkward silence, followed by an admission that haven’t done anything but know that they could be doing more.
Delayed Or Low-Evidence Intervention Leaves Business Owners Exposed
Research has found that commonly used interventions such as self-assessment checklists, information handouts and online training are low-evidence-based, highly subjective and ineffective tools for identifying and mitigating WHS risk.
Employers may have gotten away with this kind of ‘last-minute’ intervention at the start of the pandemic but, now that the potential health risks associated with working from home are widely recognized, there is no excuse for organisations to continue turning a blind eye to the wellbeing of their people working remotely.
Proactive Investment In Worker Wellbeing Mitigates Risk
It is widely understood that proactive WHS intervention yields far more positive outcomes that reactive models. However, throughout the pandemic I’ve observed many businesses taking a ‘wait and see’ approach to home workspace health and safety, no doubt in the hope that everyone will eventually return to the office.
While some organisations are encouraging staff back to the office, the reality is that working from home or hybrid-working is here to stay. Successful businesses will take appropriate steps to ensure they comply with WHS legislation by having adequate processes in place to mitigate WHS risks in home workspaces, particularly when you consider the proven positive ROI for investment in wellbeing programs.
Wellbeing Programs Yield Positive ROI
According to recent figures from NZIER, for every dollar spent on wellbeing, earns an average of $5 back on your investment within a year, money that is otherwise lost to poor productivity. In fact, this ROI can go as high as 12:1 or $12 back for every dollar spent on wellbeing [4].
Well considered wellbeing programs address the needs of individuals, making people feel valued for the person they are, not just the work role they perform. People who feel supported and valued by their employer report greater levels of job satisfaction and productivity. They’re also more likely to remain loyal to their employer when the going gets tough. This means they’re less likely to take sick leave, submit a Workcover claim or seek alternative employment.
The potential cost savings from proactively mitigating WHS risks, thereby reducing lost-time-injury and Workcover claims alone are huge. When you also consider the gains in productivity and quality of performance across your organisation that can be achieved by engaging and retaining your most talented team members, investing in wellbeing programs should be an easy decision for any progressive company to make.
There Are Many Good Reasons To Invest In Worker Wellbeing. The World Health Organisation Summed It Up Well.
It's The Right Thing To Do
‘Creating a healthy workplace that does no harm to the mental or physical health or well- being of workers is a moral imperative, ensuring workers not only have a safe & healthy work environment but a sustainable community as well.'
It's The Smart Thing To Do
‘Successful businesses recognise the competitive advantage that a healthy workplace can provide to them, in contrast to their competition who regard health & safety as just a necessary cost of doing business.
There is a wealth of data demonstrating that, in the long term, the most successful and competitive companies are those that have the best H&S records and the most physically and mentally healthy and satisfied workers.'
It's The Legal Thing To Do
'Complying with the law, and thus avoiding fines and imprisonment for employers and directors, is a good reason for considering the health, safety and wellness of workers.'
-World Health Organisation (WHO) [5]
Conclusion
Ensuring a healthy home workspace is a win-win for businesses owners and their team members but, to reap the benefits and demonstrate compliance, organisations need to take a more proactive, evidence-based approach.
If you’re an employer and unsure what steps to take, don’t delay. Discuss your needs with a WHS professional, familiar with the potential risks and mitigation strategies for remote workspaces.
References
Hargreaves and Telstra [2011] AATA 417
Catherine Mary Hopkins v Department of Education & Communities [2014] NSWWCC 258: workers compensation
Workers Compensation Nominal Insurer v Hill [2020] NSWCA 54
Xero: The Next Level. Boost your bottom line with wellbeing and technology [2020]
Healthy workplaces: A model for action for employers, workers, policy-makers and practitioners [2010]
