Yes, and you can ask that they maintain proper dress standards. They should also keep their work area clean and tidy etc. You will the of course have to arrange for regular unscheduled home visits to make sure all of these standards are being met. Perhaps the board could also set out appropriate standards of décor for home workers. You often see unsuitable wallpaper and furnishings in peoples houses. People forget that these are not their private homes but workplaces. After all, what is the point of being a manager if you can’t order people about!

Agree that this article is garbage. However, I can certainly believe IOSH would come up with this sort of nonsesne, after all, it advocates UN sustainability goals and pushes climate lies as examples.

 Take Smoke breaks outside, arrange for external companies to do PAT Testing - provide them with a fire extinguisher! Any suggestion that inelegance went into that article is over generous! The sooner i retire fully and can stop paying my fees t these idiots the better if thats what they are endorsing!

Fire extinguisher for Lithium Battery at home? I note the absence of a contributor name.

Well apparently "This content has been sourced from IOSH Fire Risk Management Group publications"

That falls a bit short of saying that the group endorses it. 

At my last job, there were around 7,000 staff - with perhaps 40% of them working from home in a hybrid manner.

We introduced working from home during Covid. As the firm’s Fire Safety Manager, I nervously added WFH fire safety guidance on the firm's intranet. 

I have always tried as hard as I can to avoid the being labelled pedantic and tried to steer clear of accusations of 'elf and safety gone mad'. So I  focussed on the few additional risks of fire that we the employer had bought into the family home via introducing WFH. 

OK I did go down the smoke detector route (advising staff to get at least one), but my main advice was centred around charging phone & laptop batteries during the day and using laptops on a desk or hard surface and not a duvet (which may restrict cooling air flow). But that was it!!

The idea of advising staff to smoke outside or expect a risk assessment visit from me never entered my mind. I am appalled at this IOSH publication and worry it tarnishes the reputation IOSH  currently enjoy.

I am pleased that after 50 years in the workplace - and 48 of them in the fire safety industry - I will be retiring in 2025 as standards are definitely slipping  

Interesting point, Steve.

I imagine some IOSH staff work from home?  Have IOSH implemented these measures for their own staff?

Also, I spot a contradiction in IOSH's stance on workers smoking in their own homes.  According to Blueprint, "An OSH professional is expected to deliver management systems that promotes and protects [sic] worker wellbeing.  This includes persuading them to make good lifestyle choices to keep themselves fit and healthy and systems for the effective management of mental health."

Encouraging home workers to have smoking breaks outdoors doesn't appear to fit with persuading them to make good lifestyle choices, which would instead involve persuading them not to smoke at all.

Having no responsibilities at all can't possibly be correct.  If an employee choosing to work from home is issued with faulty electrical equipment to work at home with, or is bullied or over-worked by their manager, that cannot but be the employer's responsibility, same as if they were working anywhere else.

There is nothing in the Health and Safety at Work Act that restricts its provisions to the employer's business premises.

Originally Posted by: peter gotch

Surely the second sentence should start "Other emploYERS will pay......." given that most home working emploYEES probably foot the bill for "heat, light and power" themselves.

In my previous role I was contracted as "home based" which meant that utilities were subsidised through a flat weekly expenses payment rather than the rigmarole of proportioning actual invoices.

In my current role and becoming officially hybrid thanks to Covid I did take advantage of the two years of tax break HM Gov issued without question.

Now unfortunately should I seek any contribution the invitation will be to come back to the office.

Thank you for your feedback on this article. We are currently reviewing it and feel several points you make raise enough concerns for it to be taken it down from our website. We appreciate constructive responses that highlight where our content does not give the right information or advice, and we apologise for anything that falls below the high standards we set. Best regards, Jasmeen