{"id":2244,"date":"2026-03-09T14:40:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T14:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/?p=2244"},"modified":"2026-03-09T14:40:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T14:40:23","slug":"home-workers-must-be-protected-like-any-other-employee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/?p=2244","title":{"rendered":"Home workers must be protected like any other employee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Employers have the same health and safety duties for home workers as for office-based staff<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
\nKey risk areas\u00a0to consider\u00a0include stress and mental health, display screen equipment, and working environment<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
\nFree guidance is available to help employers meet their responsibilities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over\u00a0a third\u00a0of workers in Great Britain\u00a0now work\u00a0remotely or in hybrid arrangements,\u00a0but not all\u00a0employers\u00a0realise\u00a0health\u00a0and safety responsibilities apply equally at home as in the workplace.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Britain\u2019s\u00a0national\u00a0workplace regulator,\u00a0is reminding employers\u00a0of the need\u00a0to\u00a0assess\u00a0the\u00a0risks for all home workers.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Home and hybrid working\u00a0is\u00a0now found across\u00a0almost every\u00a0sector and business size. Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that in January 2026, 38 percent of workers in Great Britain were working remotely or in some kind of hybrid arrangement (25% hybrid and 13% working fully remotely).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

HSE\u00a0is\u00a0advising\u00a0employers\u00a0to\u00a0pay particular attention to three\u00a0essential\u00a0areas:\u00a0stress and mental health, the safe use of display screen equipment (DSE), and the working\u00a0environment \u2013\u00a0including accidents, emergencies, and lone working.\u00a0This is a legal duty, not optional guidance.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Barbara Hockey,\u00a0from HSE Engagement and Policy Division,\u00a0said: \u201cWorking from home can deliver benefits to both employers and employees\u00a0but with more than\u00a0three\u00a0in ten workers now working remotely or in a hybrid arrangement,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0important that employers understand their responsibilities.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe good news\u00a0for bosses\u00a0is\u00a0you\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0need to physically visit someone\u2019s home to fulfil your duties,\u00a0most of the time, the risks are low and the steps to manage them are straightforward,\u00a0and\u00a0HSE\u00a0provides\u00a0free guidance\u00a0to support\u00a0you.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPractically, this means\u00a0managers\u00a0keeping in regular contact with\u00a0their\u00a0teams, talking openly about workloads and training needs, and making sure people\u00a0aren\u2019t\u00a0under\u00a0pressure\u00a0to\u00a0work\u00a0outside\u00a0their\u00a0normal working hours.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt also means having simple conversations about the physical environment\u00a0by\u00a0asking staff to\u00a0visually\u00a0check\u00a0that\u00a0their equipment is safe\u00a0and not damaged, keeping work areas clear of trailing wires or obstructions, and making sure everyone knows what to do in an emergency.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Free, practical resources are available\u00a0at\u00a0<\/span>hse.gov.uk<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to help businesses of all sizes carry out home-working risk assessments and meet their obligations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Notes to editors<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE)<\/span><\/a>\u00a0is Britain\u2019s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people & places and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
\nFurther details on the\u00a0<\/span>latest HSE news releases<\/span><\/a>\u00a0are\u00a0<\/span>available\u00a0at\u00a0<\/span>press.hse.gov.uk<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
\nHSE does not pass sentences, set guidelines or collect any fines imposed. Relevant sentencing guidelines must be followed unless the court is satisfied that it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so. The\u00a0relevant\u00a0sentencing\u00a0councils\u00a0provides\u00a0guidelines for health and safety offences\u00a0for\u00a0<\/span>England<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Scotland<\/span><\/a>\u00a0on their websites.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
\nFor more detail on the\u00a0Office for National statistics, see:\u00a0<\/span>Public opinions and social trends, Great Britain: working arrangements \u2013 Office for National Statistics<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>
\nFurther information and free guidance for employers on homeworking health and safety responsibilities is available at\u00a0<\/span>hse.gov.uk<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Employers have the same health and safety duties for home workers as for office-based staff\u00a0 Key risk areas\u00a0to consider\u00a0include stress and mental health, display screen equipment, and working environment\u00a0 Free guidance is available to help employers meet their responsibilities.\u00a0 Over\u00a0a third\u00a0of workers in Great Britain\u00a0now work\u00a0remotely or in hybrid arrangements,\u00a0but not all\u00a0employers\u00a0realise\u00a0health\u00a0and safety responsibilities apply…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2244"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2244\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.safetyphoto.co.uk\/safety_news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}