In reply to Steven :

Ah I'm with you, thanks! I was thinking of our private car or company car drivers who only drive themselves - field-based staff - rather than public transport. Food for thought!

What an interesting question and you have some great responses.

I worked with a full remote client recently and so spent some time reviewing their H&S and risk assessments for home working to keep them safe and the minimise the risks to the business too. We settled on office equipment only and not on additional equipment like fire extinguishers. This wasn't done on the basis of cost. It was done on the basis of personal vs business responsibility.

The risk assessment included a lot more detail on all risks including trips and slips, fire etc and video information and guides, a different approach to that which we would have in an office based environment. We also provided information on insurance - what was covered by work and what needed to be covered on home insurance and data security.

Whatever you decide it needs to be:
*sustainable long term, workable and be followed through on consistently
*legally compliant
*in line with your culture, values and levels of individual, managerial and organisational responsibilities/ accountabilities.

Good luck coming to the best decision for the company and the people.

I've no strong view on this but some questions to get you thinking are below.

If an organisation provides fire extinguishers...

...should it also get employees to record accidents and incidents and, crucially, near misses in the home workspace?
...should training be given not only to the employee but to others in their home workspace (probably their family) on safe use of equipment, safe access and egress, fire safety, office safety and the like?
...should it also ban smoking in the home workspace given that it will already be banned in the onsite workspace, and would be considered perhaps the major risk factor for fire in the home workspace?
...should we consider stairlifts for employees with mobility issues if their office is downstairs but their toilet upstairs (or vice versa)?
...do we need to provide video doorbell cameras for home workplace security?
...should we be enforcing screen breaks to minimise eyesight strain?
...do we need to prevent working beyond a certain number of hours per week?
...do we need to ensure that they are eating and drinking healthily, eg a decent supply of clean water, and healthy snacks?

It is possible to answer yes to all of the above. It is also possible to answer no.

My view is that this is a developing area and there is currently little concrete guidance, so the phrase "reasonable" is what matters. What is "reasonable" here? I would think being consistent in your actions and proportionate to the risk is what matters in determining reasonableness.

My goodness what a topic. If only someone would write a book or two on this to help...

Gary

In reply to Gary:

Points well made, Gary.