How To Protect Your Employees Working From Home Alone During The Coronavirus Pandemic
With the COVID-19 virus spreading across the entire globe, more of your team members are going to have to work at home and in many cases, alone. But because you’re not sharing an office with these workers, it doesn’t mean that you can’t protect your team:
Proper training protects those working at home
A properly trained staff is a safer one. Once you have developed a lone worker safety policy for people working remote or at home, you need educate and train them on these new guidelines; even if they are working from home. Make sure you train your lone workers thoroughly, showing them how to deal with every possible scenario they might experience. Working remotely or from home will introduce new obstacles and safety challenges. It is your responsibility to make sure that employees know the risks, and how to deal with them.
Conduct a safety hazard assessment for your lone workers
Before any king or queen would go to war, one of the steps he or she would take would be to examine and identify safety hazard that are deadly facing their army and citizens. Once these threats were identified, they would do everything before the battle to reduce these safety hazards saving lives and reducing fatalities and injuries. There are a number of physical, biological, environmental, social, ergonomic, chemical, and/or electrical safety hazards that threaten those working at home and the first step is to identify the enemies.
Develop a comprehensive lone worker policy
Use the results from your hazard assessment to plan a lone worker policy, thoroughly evaluate the potential risks, and provide clear guidance for risk reduction. Your lone worker policy should ensure that employees on the job are always in contact with you. Establishing a check-in procedure is an effective way to maintain regular, planned contact with lone or remote workers throughout the day. It is important to remember that your lone worker policy is not set in stone and will most likely evolve and change as time goes by – just remember to be flexible and update regularly.
Ensure that lone workers have the proper equipment
One of the biggest differences compared to the time of kings and queens is that now have technology to protect our people. Take advantage and utilize any available technology and software to protect your team. Through these innovations, you can locate your worker almost instantly, allow them to check in easily and remotely, as well as have access to a panic button. If workers require unique equipment to fulfill their jobs remotely or from home, this should be considered and each case evaluated individually. As mentioned before, a risk assessment can identify any safety hazards that can be mitigated by technology before an emergency happens.
Promote employee wellness
Any happy and productive work safety culture has the mental wellness of its workers as its priority. Mentally and emotionally healthy workers experience less accidents and are much more productive. It is wise to invest in wellness programs as the benefits will return on many levels including lower staff turnover, increased quality and amount of work completed, and a team is more on board with any new safety protocols. Make sure they are taking regular breaks and find the work-life balance while working at home.
Stay connected
Even with a team working remotely and at home, it is possible to maintain professional and personal relationships amongst the team. It’s a great idea to hold regular team meetings via video chat or socially-distanced gatherings. Meetings can be both work-related and unrelated such as a virtual “happy hour,” which we hold at SafetyLine - even though I have never met some of these people in person, I still feel engaged with them. Whatever it is, the employer should provide these avenues and channels for team members to comfortably connect and collaborate.
Be creative
During these stressful times, these are just a few steps your organization can take to preserve the safety of its people. Every home and workspace is different these days and you need to stay open-minded and creative when it comes to protecting your remote team. As many of us have made the transition from office to home, we must be mindful of the unique challenges we may deal with, even if they aren’t in our face.
Visit our other blogs in the Working From Home Series:
Increase Productivity While Working From Home Office
How To Manage Your Employees Working From Home During The Coronavirus
The Importance of Self-Care When Social Distancing and Working From Home
Working From Home Tips During the Coronavirus