Many employers are embracing the idea of letting employees work from home, and you may find the option particularly appealing. However, this arrangement brings up concerns over safety and health issues.
Employers retain the responsibility for ensuring health and safety in a home work environment just as they would if you worked in the office. However, many employers are not providing essential tools, such as desks and ergonomic chairs.
The problems
According to Safety + Health magazine, the issues that can come from employers not providing employees with ergonomic support at home are those conditions related to repetitive stress. You may start to experience back pain due to not having a proper desk and chair that allows you to sit in an aligned position. You may have wrist pain due to not having proper wrist support as your work on your computer.
Such injuries will only get worse over time. They can impact your productivity, and they make working at home less of an ideal situation.
The solution
For employers to avoid the liability that comes with work-at-home injuries, they should provide you with a good home office set up just as they would in the office. Your employer needs to be proactive, ensuring that you have the supplies and tools to properly and safely do your job even though you are not physically in the workplace.
There are no OSHA checks on home offices, so it is much easier for employers to ignore these needs. The law, though, does hold an employer liable if you suffer an injury in your home workspace. So, there is motivation for employers to take these issues seriously.