Afternoon, the definitions in article 2 explicitly exclude domestic premises, viz: '"workplace" means any premises or parts of premises, not being domestic premises, used for the purposes of an employer's undertaking and which are made available to an employee of the employer as a place of work and includes' so no, the RR(FS)O does not apply to homeworkers, John

I think the key to Article 5(2) is 'so far as the requirements relate to matters within his control'. So requiring your employee to store 500l of petrol at home may be in the employer's control, whether the employee has an evacuation plan, smoke detectors or whatever is no business of the employer and not within the employer's control, John

Thanks guys for your thoughts. I am also of a mind to assess the significant risks that the employer controls and nothing else. I have been low key in the past on homeworking DSE allowing for competence to assess being provided by practical training of staff (you don't need Chartered for that - stir stir) and will remain doing so. My parallel fire related question stems from the fact that many Councils are being forced to consider agile working and working at home and if they are 'strict' on DSE etc they may feel similarly inclined on fire issues. With my laptop on my lap and the fat fryer going full blast in kitchen I thank you.

There is a case going to civil action as I write. Was in paper a month ago? - can't recall which, but do I know the person, and the case, anyway. Using laptop provided by employer, authorised to work from home, left house to walk dog, on return (50 minutes later) house fully ablaze -uninhabitable. It took 4 years to rebuild, they have only recently got back in. It was a 400 year old listed thatched cottage with historic connections. The insurance would not pay the full amount spent to restore, so the additional £100,000 is being sought from the employer. The laptop "exploded" - well, the battery did. It was one with the batch of faulty batteries supplied by Sony (4 million recalled). Luckily there was nobody IN the house, or injured. I never leave my laptop on charge now overnight or if unattended. That's the significant finding of my own FRA. The newspaper suggested that if successful this claim would have significant impact on the homeworking sector.