Workplace Health & Safety(WHS) and Work From Home (WFH)

Guide to working safely at home

Logicore is passionate about people and is committed to providing a safe place of work for all workers. To ensure the safety of workers, Logicore has implemented an approach to identify, assess, and where we can, control the risks a worker may be exposed to. Logicore will consult, coordinate and cooperate with clients to ensure risks to the health and safety of workers is eliminated or reduced, so far as is reasonably practicable.

This guide provides practical advice to enable you to undertake an initial review of your remote workplace and outlines many common hazards that may be found in your home work environment. Logicore will always aim to work together with you to ensure that your ongoing work health and safety remains of paramount importance including the identification of risks and the best ways to manage them.

Remote working

Establish a communication procedure

Create a communication procedure to ensure regular contact between yourself and your manager that outlines the who, what, when and how you can expect to interact.

A communication procedure should include items such as:

Daily/weekly goals that are clearly defined for remote employees
Regular meetings are scheduled
To collaborate effectively, use platforms and tools (i.e. MS Teams, Zoom, Skype, group emails) to ensure communication is consistent
Ensure feedback is provided between parties and that questions are clarified
How illness or absence from work (including the booking of holidays) should be notified, to whom and when
In case of emergency or incident at home, who needs to be contacted

Incident Reporting

Incident reporting is an important part of the Logicore Work Health & Safety Management System. Incidents that should be reported include injuries to yourself, emergency situations and near-miss incidents where there is no injury but requires preventative action.

Early reporting of identified hazards, injuries, near misses or changes in your home workplace is part of your normal work responsibilities.

Here’s what you need to do if you have a safety issue or suffer an injury:

Ensure you are safe and warn others of any danger
Report the incident to your Supervisor/Manager as soon as possible.
Seek first aid/medical treatment if required
Notify the Logicore work health and safety team

Environment

Emergency Exits

Best practice recommends we must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that a worker can enter and exit the workplace without risk to the health and safety of any person.

We suggest completing the following actions to ensure safe access and egress to your home workplace:

Identify pathways of access and egress in case of emergency
Review obstructions to ensure walkways are clear of clutter and trip hazards
Move any objects that impede your path and store safely elsewhere
Ensure electrical cords are minimised, secured along the edges of the walkway or taped down with hazard taping if crossing the walkway
Ensure doors are easily unlockable in case of emergency

Minimise Workplace Noise

A quick test you can do to assess the noise in your workplace is known as the ‘one metre rule’. If you need to raise your voice to talk to someone about one metre away, you can assume the sound level is likely to be hazardous to hearing. The risks from workplace noise must be eliminated or minimised so far as is reasonably practicable.

If possible, work in an area away from other noise (ie. home office)
Close windows and doors to reduce outside noise exposure
Turn off or lower volumes on electrical devices close by (ie tv or radio)
Do not wear electronic ear or headphones all the time
Wear protective ear plugs to control noise and aid your concentration

Workplace Lighting

Whether in industrial, office or home-based workplace settings, proper lighting makes all work tasks easier. Appropriate lighting, without glare or shadows, can reduce eye fatigue, muscle strain and headaches and prevent health and safety issues arising by increasing the visibility of safety hazards. Some tips to improve workplace lighting include:

Maximise natural lighting
Position your workstation space taking into consideration windows and overhead lighting
Adjust light level. Raising the overall light level can help with contrast and visibility
Add a desk lamp to help with viewing paper documents. This helps by illuminating the document while avoiding excessive light on the computer screen
Replace flickering globes
Filter and diffuse light by using curtains or blinds on windows to control glare and reflection
Adjust your computer monitor using the contrast settings and change the background colour on the computer screen to suit the lighting situation

Room Temperature

Optimum comfort for sedentary work is between 20°C and 26°C, depending on the time of year and clothing worn.

Dress appropriately in response to the temperature
Ensure air conditioning is set at an appropriate temperature
Avoid locating your workstation directly in front or below air conditioning outlets
Deflect air vents to direct airflow away from the workstation
Open windows to enable fresh air to flow into the room
To control extreme heat or cold, pull down blinds and/or pull across curtains
Use portable air conditioners/fans/heaters to control room temperature ensuring that cords are properly maintained and safely positioned

Ergonomics

Correct office and workstation ergonomics can help you be more comfortable at work, lower stress and reduce injuries caused by awkward positions and repetitive tasks

Workstation set up

Here are a few small and simple changes you can make to reduce your risk of injury:

Adjust the height of the chair so that your feet are flat on the floor
Move your hips all the way back into the chair so that your spine has the entire back support available
Lower or raise the arm rests so that your shoulders are relaxed and that your elbows are angles to at least 90 degrees
An ergonomic chair should have a portion of the back support that curves slightly inward to fit the natural S-curve of your spine and minimize lower back pain
Ensure your sitting posture is upright or slightly reclined, with lower back supported
If required, add a pillow or cushion to provide yourself with extra lower back support
Ensure your chair can move freely
Castors should be free of dust and other material reducing the function of the wheels
Position the chair/workstation in an area that has a smooth surface to enable castors to work effectively
Ensure there is enough area around your workstation so you can push back the chair to access items required during the day
Ensure there is adequate leg space under the workstation

Computer Accessories

While there is not one correct way to sit at a workstation, seating should support postures that can be changed frequently throughout the day. It should accommodate the work being done, visual demands and the workers’ individual differences. This will reduce fatigue and strain on the neck, shoulders, back and legs. Workers should trial different positions to work out the best set up for themselves.

Some helpful tips to try:

Ensure the keyboard distance allows you to relax shoulders with elbows close to the body
Build a natural posture by positioning the keyboard and mouse so that your elbows are at your sides and your arms are at or below a 90-degree angle. This way, the muscle load is reduced and you’re not straining.
Position the keyboard directly and symmetrically in front of the monitor
Your wrists and fingers should be neutral or drop lower than neutral
The keyboard should have its feet lowered to flat to ensure wrists do not flex when typing
If using a separate mouse, ensure it is placed directly next to the keyboard
From your seated position place the most frequently used items within easy reach
If you are using a monitor, adjust the height so the top of the screen is at or slightly lower than eye level
Use a document holder to position paperwork to reduce muscle discomfort and eyestrain and improve neck posture

Stretching and rest breaks

Ensure long periods of continuous activity are broken by performing other tasks, changing position, standing up and stretching
Perform stretching exercises at regular intervals
Ensure lunch breaks are taken
Stand when on the telephone to break to alter your posture and reduce fatigue

Electrical safety

Power boards and socket safety

Some types of equipment can involve greater risk than others, for example:

Portable electrical equipment including plugs and sockets, electrical connections and the cable itself are especially vulnerable to damage.
Extension leads, especially those connected to equipment that is frequently moved can suffer similar problems.
It is recommended that electrical equipment is plugged in singularly to a GPO (general purpose outlet)
Alternatively, a single power board can be used with one device per power point. It is recommended power boards have a safety overload switch.

Ensure your power board has adequate ventilation when in use
Ensure you inspect the power board for deterioration and that no dust or foreign objects have made their way into unused ports
Never overload your power board or add double adaptors to increase the number of points
Locate any extension leads and cables safely and securely so as not to be a trip hazard
Be wary of heavy plug-in transformers which may become dislodged and tip over the power board resulting in exposed pins

Double adaptors do not provide any overload protection features and should be used with extreme caution. They are angled which may increase the fire or electrocution risk.
Check to ensure your home has a RCD (safety switch) installed to provide surge protection. RCD’s switch off the electrical supply when electricity leaking to earth is detected at a level that is harmful to someone using electrical equipment

Equipment Inspections

It is recommended that you carry out regular visual inspections to ensure that electrical leads and the equipment to which they are connected are undamaged and functioning correctly. Visual inspections should be carried out as part of regular home maintenance especially if children or pets can get access to your workstation.

Step	How
Check that the outer sheath is not damaged	Work your way along the lead looking for cuts, abrasions or discolouration indicating possible chemical damage
Flex the lead to check the material itself	Confirm that it is not brittle and remains unbroken with no cracking
Check there are no exposed wires at plugs	The outer sheath must cover the inner wires right into the plug
Confirm that the lead works correctly	Connect the equipment and check that it switches on normally

Fire safety

The following guidelines can help keep your home workplace safe from fire.

Never leave cooking or any other open flame including candles or oil burners unattended
Make time to complete tasks that are non-work related which could result in a fire
Ensure a smoke detector is installed in/near the work area and is properly maintained
Your smoke detector battery should be changed every 12 months. If unsure, change it or contact your Landlord
Move the workstation to a place close to the detector
Make sure keys to all locked doors are readily accessible in case you need to escape
In winter take extra care when using heaters, electric blankets or open fires
Don’t overload power points and switch off appliances when not in use
Dial 000 and ask for the fire brigade in an emergency.

First Aid

A general home first aid kit should be sufficient and available to respond to home workplace first aid incidents. Some suggested items include:

Adhesive strip dressings
Wound dressings
Elastic (crepe) and non-elastic bandages
Swabs and disposable gloves
A pair of scissors and blunt-nosed shears
Tweezers
Saline
Burn relief cream or gel
Adhesive tape
A thermal blanket
Notepad and pencil

Security

Your home workplace should have sufficient security to prevent unauthorised entry
Consider additional locks to your home workplace, if required
Alert your Supervisor or Consultant if your personal security is of concern so that an action plan can be created
Alert your Supervisor or Consultant if lone working presents additional risks to your safety

Manual handling

Manual handling covers a wide range of activities including: lifting, pushing, pulling, holding, restraining, throwing and carrying. Good posture and lifting techniques can help reduce these risks as you work from home.

Safety suggestions include:

Lift and carry heavy loads correctly by keeping the load close to the body and lifting with the thigh muscles
Never attempt to lift or carry loads if you think they are too heavy
Pushing a load (using your body weight to assist) will be less stressful on your body than pulling a load
Use mechanical aids or get help to lift or carry a heavy load whenever possible
Organise the work area to reduce the amount of bending, twisting and stretching required
Take frequent breaks
Warm up cold muscles with gentle stretches before engaging in any manual work
Cool down after heavy work with gentle, sustained stretches
Improve your fitness – exercise regularly to strengthen muscles and ligaments

Additional resources

Further information on managing your safety at your home workplace including tips on how to maintain good mental health and wellbeing can found by accessing:

Safework Australia – www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au
Worksafe New Zealand – www.worksafe.govt.nz