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Businesses should make own work from home decisions, says IOSH

22 Sept 2021

    • Businesses shouldn’t just wait for Government advice to work from home – they should regularly review their COVID-19 safety measures to ensure they remain effective, IOSH has said.

    With many countries continuing to see rising Coronavirus cases, Governments are reviewing existing measures, including how and where people should be working.

    In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that businesses may be asked to revert to homeworking should cases rise significantly in the coming months. This could, he said, form part of the Government’s ‘Plan B’, which would be enacted if serious concerns emerge about the NHS coming under severe pressure.

    But IOSH is urging organisations to judge for themselves whether they should make such a move, adding that looking after workers should be their priority under their duty of care (the moral and legal obligation to ensure the safety or wellbeing of others).

    Ruth Wilkinson, IOSH Head of Health and Safety, said:

    “There is a potential for COVID-19 transmission within and getting to workplaces so, should cases begin to spike as we head into the autumn and winter months, consideration must be given to how the spread of the virus can be prevented and contacts reduced. One measure is through reverting back to people working from home which will support the other controls already in place.

    “As with all other health and safety risks, a business’ number one priority must be the prevention, management and control of these effectively and putting in place proportionate measures to prevent workers from coming to harm. So, we recommend that employers shouldn’t simply wait for any Government directive or advice to implement work from home measures; they should be regularly reviewing their risk assessment and monitoring their COVID arrangements and controls to ensure they continue to be effective and taking action to amend these measures where necessary.

    “If cases do rise significantly this winter, we could be in for a difficult few months, but employers and employees can all play their part by implementing and following working safely guidelines and implementing good risk management and control measures.”

    For IOSH’s collection of COVID resources go to: https://iosh.com/coronavirus/