The coronavirus pandemic grew what was a “cottage industry” type job to one of the most popular jobs in existence today. Most telecommuting employee accidents will involve in-home hazards.
Let us look at the previous telecommuter articles I wrote over the last few months on telecommuting employees since the beginning of the pandemic:
And, below:
Telecommuting employee definition
The best way to define telecommuting employees comes from the rate bureaus. The National Council on Compensation Insurance's definition covers approximately 40 states. The other states have independent rating bureaus.
The definition (paraphrased):
For purposes of Code 8871, a residence office is a clerical work area located within the home of the clerical employee. Additional requirements are that the residence office must be separate and distinct from the location of the employer.
Clerical duties of an employee classified to Code 8871 include but are not limited to the creation or maintenance of financial or other employer records, handling correspondence, computer composition, technical drafting and telephone duties, including sales by phone.
Telecommuter employees who also engage in duties away from the residence such as depositing funds at banks, the purchase of office supplies and/or the pickup or delivery of mail are assigned to Code 8871, provided these duties are incidental and directly related to that employee’s duties in the residential office.
California’s Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau has not officially added the telecommuter code to its manuals.
In-home hazards that could cause telecommuting employee accidents
According to an article in OMG Top Tens, the following are the top 10 hazards and associated employee accidents in a home office:
The most common type of office accident is the one attributed to furniture corners. Sharp table corners should be covered with protective tabs to prevent accidents; placing furniture pieces with rounded edges can help, too.
We have all seen people injure themselves with furniture corners, sometimes seriously. The overhead cabinets in No. 5 could have been ranked higher.
A great telecommuter article from SFM pointed out three important considerations in the next two sections:
Planning for safe remote work
You can prepare for the safety of your remote workers by creating or reviewing your policies and procedures for remote work:
Safety concerns in home offices
As an employer, you can monitor and enforce safety practices at your central office. It becomes more challenging when you do not control your worker’s environment.
Do all you can to ensure that employees’ working spaces meet the minimum criteria for safety. Workers may be more complacent in their own homes and disregard tripping hazards or poor ergonomics.
A dedicated home workstation is beneficial because, unlike lounging on the couch with a laptop, the workstation can be set up for proper ergonomics. An optimal setup includes:
The above-linked articles have one thing in common: Both were written pre-pandemic. They were not written as a response to any telecommuting employee accidents or current work situation.
This blog post is provided by James Moore, AIC, MBA, ChFC, ARM, and is republished with permission from J&L Risk Management Consultants. Visit the full website at www.cutcompcosts.com.
May 5-8, 2024
Amplify Your Impact There’s no limit to what you can achieve when you join the global risk managem …
May 13-15, 2024
Join us May 13–15, 2024, for NCCI's Annual Insights Symposium (AIS) 2024, the industry’s premier e …
May 13-14, 2024
The Board of Managers is excited to announce that the CSIA 2024 Annual Meeting and Educational Con …
No Comments
Log in to post a comment