The #1 tips for a safe home office

Working from home is here to stay, but poorly-designed office set-ups are damaging our health. Here are some top tips for a better home workstation.

There have been many challenges thrown at all of us over the last 12-18 months, not least among them being working from home (WFH). For some, it has been wonderful – a longer lie in, lunchtime walks and a break from the dreaded commute. Others are racing to get back to the office to have some much-needed space to concentrate, collaborate and socialise.

But whether you’re working at home full time, part time or just temporarily, it’s essential to have the right equipment and furniture for your needs, as a poor office set-up could have a long term impact on your health.

Dr David McIvor, CEO of WorkSafety, is an expert when it comes to WFH safety. In fact, he’s even written a book about it, the Working From Home Safety Handbook; An employee guide to working safely from home.

David says that prior to Covid-19 lockdowns, many employers that allowed employees to work from home, took steps to ensure they were equipped with ‘proper’ office facilities, but those efforts have fallen by the wayside since the pandemic.

“It was considered ‘reasonably practicable’ to have a qualified person visit the employees home to assess their proposed workplace,” he said.

“In Covid times, there are just too many people working from home for this to happen, so in many cases little attention is being paid to well-designed workstations.”

A poorly-planned workstation could result in musculo-skeletal disorders such as sprains and strains of the neck, shoulders and wrists, while incorrect placement of monitor screens can cause or exacerbate eyesight and vision problems, David explained.

The biggest mistakes people make when WFH

There are a few bad habits that many people fall into when working from home, chief among them being poor use of laptops.

“Unfortunately, many are trying to make do with using a corner of the kitchen table and chair. Worse still, many that are using laptops are placing them on their laps, which is the worst position, or on a low table,” he said.

The biggest error people make, according to David, is not putting in the time or effort to get the right equipment, or to arrange and adjust it for “comfortable, safe and productive postures”.

Things to consider when designing your workspace

David’s advice is to treat your home workplace as your work place, preferably by dedicating a quiet, private space if possible. Taking time to make the right adjustments for your height will help a great deal.

“It is important workers are able to sit at the right height for them, with the work surface allowing comfortable postures of the head and neck, upper body, forearms and wrists. Work surfaces should be arranged to cater for screen-based equipment (SBE) and/or clerical type work activities.”

David points to the health benefits of sit-stand desks which he said should be considered for home workstations.

Key investments for your home office

There are a couple of key investments that he recommends for the home office. The first being “a good, height adjustable chair” that supports a comfortable “ergonomic” posture.

Secondly, he advises investing in a height-adjustable desk or work surface.

“In many cases, the employer will either provide the necessary equipment to allow the work to be done from home, or even come to a ‘salary-sacrifice’ type of arrangement whereby the employee pays some of the costs and when work returns to ‘normal’ (whatever that might look like), their employee will own to equipment,” he said.

“This needs to be formally agreed in appropriate working from home agreements and/or broader flexible working arrangements.”

Like it or not, working from home has become the “new normal”, so it is worth taking the time and energy to design a suitable workspace and source the proper equipment to do your job safely.

If it’s time to invest in some proper office furniture for your home office, you can buy now, pay later with humm.

Check out the retailers selling office equipment and furniture on humm.