The workplace has changed, so what are your responsibilities now?

The traditional office workspace is the furthest thing from people’s minds right now. Many of our employee’s working environments have changed, and so too have their risk profiles, but what are you doing to adapt and evolve with this rapidly changing situation?

Due to COVID-19 the traditional 9-5 workday, in the conventional centralised office is a thing of the past. The gruelling rush hour commute through busy traffic has become a leisurely stroll from your bedroom to your home office, and the 9-5 working hours have been replaced by a more flexible pattern to facilitate childcare, homeschooling and regular exercise. Whilst COVID-19 will eventually pass it’s still unclear whether traditional working arrangements will ever revert to the way they once were so, as a manager it’s imperative you’re prepared to acclimatise to the changing needs of your employees.

Managing a team remotely brings about a whole host of issues that may not have been there before. Ultimately, you know what works best for your workforce, however, there are a few things that you must consider in order to adapt to the challenges of remote management.

Things to Consider:

• Responsibilities - have my health & safety responsibilities changed because of all the home working?
• Communication - are you really doing enough?
• Working Environment - do your employees have the correct equipment?
• Health & Safety - are you doing everything you can to protect your workforce? You can also take a look at our article: Working from Home Policy: Health and safety checklist
• Risk Assessments - how can you ensure regular risk assessments are being carried out?
• Lone Working - have your employees suddenly become lone workers?
• Lone Working Policy - do you really need a lone working policy?
• Mental Health & Wellbeing - what are you doing to safeguard against mental health and wellbeing issues?

How you react to this new way of working will have a big influence on the safety and wellbeing of your team.