Are you comfortable in your chair reading this article? If you read it on a computer, is the desktop wide enough for the screen, keyboard, and papers? Can you place your feet firmly on the floor when the chair is adjusted to the correct height? Does the screen avoid glare? Is the brightness sufficient? Is the place quiet enough?
These are the kind of questions that the British must in principle answer to check that the ergonomics of their workstation is adequate. Since 1992, UK law has required employers to perform an audit of every job. And since the pandemic, this obligation extends to work from home.
Discreetly, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the public body responsible for workplace risks, has changed its rules to apply them to teleworking, provided that this is considered permanent.
Theoretically, employers should therefore verify that kitchen tables and other office areas shared with children, from which the British work in confinement, provide an environment suitable for work. “I don’t think more than 20% of companies have done it, and I’m generous”, estimates Alexandre Long, a French physiotherapist based in London, a specialist in ergonomics at work. The danger is however obvious: “It’s a time bomb. In a few months, or in a few years, we risk having many cases of people with back pain, wrist pain, neck pain… ”
” Pictures “
The subject is particularly important in the United Kingdom, where many employees have hardly returned to the office in a year. Since January 4, the British have once again been strictly confined. A Morgan Stanley poll estimated that in February, 96% of office workers were working from home.
However, performing a home workstation audit is not easy. For employers, it would be far too long and expensive to go and inspect the conditions at each employee. Companies therefore carry out the exercise remotely.
Since January 4, the British have once again been strictly confined. Morgan Stanley poll estimated 96% of office workers in February were working from home
Dale works in human resources for a large law firm, which followed official recommendations from the HSE. “We asked employees to answer questionnaires [similaires aux questions posées au début cet article, en plus détaillé]. We then asked employees to send photos of their workstations. “
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