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Telework and Home Office Health and Safety Guide

Don't work completely on your own when working at home. Have this health and safety guide on hand.

To help support workplaces during the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the PDF version of this guide has been made available free of charge until December 31, 2020.

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Cover page for Telework and Home Office Health and Safety Guide
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Table of contents page for Telework and Home Office Health and Safety Guide

Publication: Telework and Home Office Health and Safety Guide: Table of Contents

Section I Planning Telework

  1. Introduction
  2. Advantages and Disadvantages of Teleworking
  3. Before You Start
  4. Managing or Supervising Telework

Section II Overview of Roles and Responsibilities Under Health and Safety Legislation

  1. OSH Responsibilities
  2. Workplace Inspections
  3. Accident Investigation
  4. First Aid

Section III Preparing for Telework

  1. Self Assessment for the Teleworker
  2. Sample Agreements Between the Teleworker and Employer
  3. Putting it all together – a "Before You Start" Telework Checklist

Section IV When Working From Home

  1. Your Occupational Health and Safety
  2. Making Telework Work for You
    • Staying Connected with the Office
  3. Balance Between Work and Family Life

Section V Your Health and Safety

  1. Employer’s Responsibility for Teleworkers Health and Safety
  2. Workstation Ergonomics
    • Symptoms of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs)
  3. Three Stages of WMSD
    • Preventative Measures to Control WMSDs
  4. Work Station Design
    • Work Surface
    • Chair
    • Workstation Layout
    • Using a Laptop Computer
    • Working at Various Workstations/"Hotelling"
  5. Work Organization
  6. Manual Material Handling (Lifting, Pushing/Pulling, etc.)

Section VI Other Health and Safety Concerns and Preventive Measures

  1. General Work Environment
  2. Personal Safety and Security
  3. Potential Safety Hazards in Home Offices
  4. Electrical Safety
  5. Housekeeping
  6. Safety When Driving

Section VII Appendices

Section VIII Occupational Health and Safety Legislation

Section IX Information Sources

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Description

Designed and written as a practical workplace educational and reference tool. This 117-page pocket guide is filled with clear-language text including safety tips, charts, diagrams, checklists and illustrations.

Objectives

Teleworking, or telecommuting, is the term used for people who perform office duties from outside the traditional office, usually at home. Teleworkers maintain contact with work and perform their job tasks through telephone, e-mail, the Internet and/or a private network.

This guide is intended to provide practical information for teleworkers and home-based office workers to:

  • Integrate health and safety into everyday practices
  • Ensure compliance with health and safety legislation and due diligence
  • Help manage a telework position so it works best for both the employee and employer
  • Understand the importance of ergonomics (workstation, desk, chair, etc.), work organization (work pace, maintaining contact, etc.) and other safety and security needs that may be unique to a “working at home” environment

Scope

The guide covers all aspects of implementing a comprehensive health and safety program for teleworkers and home-based workers. The main focus is integrating health and safety in home-based office work through telework agreements and the actual set up of the office.

Target Audience

This guide is written for home-based office workers and related professionals, whether as an employee or self-employed. Managers and supervisors, as well as health and safety and human resources professionals will find this guide a useful reference in developing management policies and practices.

Each publication produced by CCOHS undergoes several stages of review. As part of this review, representatives from government, employers, and labour are requested to comment on draft copies of CCOHS documents for technical accuracy and readability.

Although every effort is made to ensure accuracy and completeness of the information, it is understood that CCOHS makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of such information and assumes no liability for any damages or loss suffered as a result of any inaccuracy or incompleteness therein.