How To Prepare For Working From Home

Commuting to work probably feels like a lifetime ago for many of us. Instead, we now commute to the spare bedroom or kitchen table to start work. Although a temporary measure to start with, three weeks has quickly turned into nine months. It’s now fair to say that working from home has become a long term solution for many businesses.

This prolonged length of time that employees have worked from home has meant that sitting on the sofa, kitchen chair or even floor isn’t good enough anymore. Workers need an appropriate station to work from in order to work for lengths of time. This means that display screen equipment (DSE) users should be equipped with an office chair, correct desk and suitable ergonomic accessories.

DSE Assessments

How to help employees working from home?

Carrying out DSE assessments for those employees who are working from home means that musculoskeletal problems can be addressed. This includes issues with bad backs and aches and pains. A DSE assessment allows our assessors to survey the entire workstation and make any changes to help improve comfort. This could be something as simple as adjusting a chair or screen height. If new equipment is needed, the most suitable option will be then specified in the full written report.

Get Your Environment Right

It’s really important to get your environment right wherever you are working. External factors such as noise, light, heat and how comfortable your workstation is can impact the productivity of employees. Addressing these different working dynamics allows employers to not only ensure their staff members can work comfortably but, also allows them to meet Health and Safety obligations all whilst reducing absenteeism and increasing productivity.

Working From Home – The New Normal

Before March 2020, for the majority, working from home was unusual with many employers not allowing remote working. This of course all had to change and once this happened, the future of office based working altered.

Working from home is going to be the start of a new way of working. Many large corporations have already pledged that their employees can work remotely and it’s only a matter of time before others start to follow.

With this, it’s important for employers to start investing in this new way of working. It’s just as important to invest in a home office set up as it is for those working in the office. We have seen a ‘knee-jerk’ spend of £100-£150 given to employees in an attempt to make them comfortable. This more than likely isn’t enough.

Carrying out a DSE assessment on homeworkers means that any workstation set-up issues can be addressed and staff can work comfortably from the get go. If left, the chances of musculoskeletal problems increase meaning more absence days which is costly as well as impacted productivity.

Next Steps

There are a few simple things that you can do in order to prepare employees for comfortable homeworking. Arranging a DSE assessment is a great start to addressing any initial workstation set-up problems and then if needed, investing in the right products. These don’t have to be expensive but, they should be suitable for the user. This means that measurements are taken and each individual’s needs taken into consideration.

DSE Assessment Solutions

You can arrange a DSE assessment in a number of ways. At VergoUK, we work with companies large and small to meet all of their DSE needs. We can deliver in-person and remote assessments as well as rolling out an online DSE assessment platform.

For in-person assessments, our assessors can travel to the individual’s place of work whether and carry out an assessment. Remote assessments can also be carried out via phone or video call if this is easier. For both solutions, a full written report is provided.

Our online DSE solution works in a slightly different way. This DSE solution can be rolled out company wide and sent to each employee. From here, they complete the survey themselves and all results are stored in a portal. Here, you can decide who has access to these reports such as which managers, team leaders, heads of departments etc. can view the information.

It is here that high-risk users are flagged up so you can see who may need further attention and who is fine. The online DSE assessment solution is a time and cost effective way of assessing all employees with it simply involving a license fee per employee.

If you’d like further information about any of our DSE assessment solutions, you can get in touch with us at info@vergouk.com, on 08435 150 907 or by filling out the form below.