Health and Safety Obligations for Home Workers

Employers frequently assume that health and safety obligations apply only to premises they control. In many jurisdictions the duty follows the work, not the building.

General description. Requirements differ substantially by jurisdiction and this is not legal advice.

The general position

Most frameworks place a duty on the employer to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of employees while working — including at home.

What is reasonably practicable differs from an office. You cannot inspect someone's home at will, and in most places you cannot require it. But the duty does not disappear because the workplace is not yours.

What is usually expected

A workstation assessment. Commonly a self-assessment completed by the employee against a checklist, reviewed by the employer, with follow-up where something is flagged. Some jurisdictions require this explicitly for display screen work.

Providing suitable equipment. Where the work requires a screen for extended periods, a suitable chair, desk arrangement and monitor position are typically part of the duty rather than a perk. This connects directly to equipment policy.

Information and training. Guidance on posture, breaks, screen positioning and reporting problems.

Acting on what is reported. The duty engages most clearly once someone tells you something is wrong. An unaddressed report of back pain from an unsuitable chair is the case that goes badly.

Recording work-related incidents, which can occur at home and in some frameworks are reportable.

The practical approach

A self-assessment at the start, repeated periodically. Short — a page. Screen height, chair, lighting, cabling, breaks, anything causing discomfort.

Someone reads the responses. A checklist collected and filed unread provides no protection and no benefit.

A route to request equipment, with a budget, that does not require a negotiation. If getting a suitable chair requires escalating to a manager, most people will not ask, and the discomfort persists until it becomes an injury.

Guidance that is actually read. Two pages on setting up a workstation, sent at the start rather than buried in an intranet.

Accommodation without argument. Where someone needs specific equipment for a health reason, the process should be quick and private.

Mental health

Several jurisdictions treat psychosocial risk as within scope, and remote work introduces specific ones: isolation, difficulty separating work from home, and reduced visibility of someone who is struggling.

The practical measures are the ones covered elsewhere on this site — realistic workload, clear boundaries on hours, regular contact, and managers who notice withdrawal. Framing them as a safety obligation rather than a wellbeing initiative changes how seriously they are resourced.

What you cannot do

You generally cannot inspect someone's home without consent.

You cannot require an arrangement the person cannot provide. If suitable working space is not available, the answer is providing equipment, a coworking allowance, or office access — not a requirement they cannot meet.

You cannot transfer the duty by having someone sign a declaration that their home is safe. It is evidence, not a discharge.

Insurance

Check that your employer liability cover extends to home working, and to the jurisdictions where people actually work. Policies written for a single-site operation sometimes do not, and finding out after a claim is the wrong time.

The reason to take it seriously

Beyond obligation: the most common home working injury is musculoskeletal, it develops slowly, it is cheap to prevent and expensive to treat.

A chair costs a few hundred. A long-term back injury costs considerably more, in absence, in adjustment, and occasionally in a claim.