INDUSTRY FOCUS
Is the new bad back the new bad back?
During the pre-COVID period it was not uncommon to hear the rhetorical question: ‘is mental health the new bad back?’ as retailers rolled out wellbeing programmes for staff to encourage them to open up and confront the fact that ‘it’s OK not to be OK'.
As the UK hunkers down for another potential six months of restrictions including the Government U turn on getting staff back into the office, the question raising its head is: 'Is the new bad back the new bad back?' as longer-term working from home takes its toll on the nation’s spines.
Workers stooping over kitchen, dining and coffee tables, not to mention hunching over laptops on sofas and beds, could become the next skeletal-shaping epidemic unless the correct risk assessments are put in place to ensure the right equipment and posture takes priority.
Retail health and safety teams have been working through the lockdown to head off what might become HR headaches further down the line.
According to the Health and Safety Executive HSE, employers must protect their workers from the health risks of working with display screen equipment (DSE), such as PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations apply to workers who use DSE daily, for an hour or more at a time.
The emerging threat has been likened to that surrounding the health and safety issues of grey fleet drivers – those retail staff using their own vehicles for business purposes, even if they are simply store-hopping delivery errands.
Questions exercising health and safety staff here include duty of care and risk assessments around holding the right driving licences, insurance (it must cover business use), the road worthiness of the vehicle – maintenance programmes, tyre conditions, CO2 and Nox emissions - and the responsibility audit trail around the corporate manslaughter legislation.
Similarly, if an employee’s status changes to long-term working from home, the DSE regulations come into play so there is a duty of care to ensure there are no additional posture or stress-related risks.
The Government had set out that if a workplace is COVID-secure staff should return, but on 22nd September changed the advice back to ‘if you are able to work from home, do so’.
And, while the HSE still classes home working as temporary with no increased DSE risk, the new regulations could mean the current status would become a moot point if challenged in law.
This is because it raises the issues around mental wellbeing and employees, longer-term, having the ‘right tools to perform their tasks safely’ without adverse effects to their health.
For example, should employees be encouraging workers to take equipment home from the office – laptops, ergonomic chairs and desks - or should they be investing in new equipment better designed for home environments?
Experts argue that they should keep the situation under review and where possible and practical demonstrate that they have risk assessed and reviewed an employee’s home to ensure they meet DSE requirements to avoid situations where someone is working cross-legged on a bed, for example.
They also need to review other working practices and associated health and safety issues. Line managers should be regularly checking in on staff to ensure employees are taking recommended breaks, for example.
Ultimately, if home working becomes permanent, more detailed assessment may be needed.
For more advice, visit the HSE website.
