4.15 Working from home

Introduction

The university has certain legal responsibilities to employees who work at home on university business. These employees also have certain responsibilities.

Purpose

This policy aims to clarify these responsibilities and provide guidance about how to discharge them.

Principles

1. Where the university requires a member of staff to work from home then it recognises that health and safety legislation applies to the member of staff. The university’s policies and guidance on health and safety apply. This includes the requirement to have appropriate risk assessments of the work activities, ensuring that equipment provided by the university is safe, and ensuring that there is a suitable, safe place for the member of staff to work.

2. If a member of staff takes it upon themselves to work on university business at home, then the member of staff will assess the activities they propose to carry out and ensure that they do not place themselves or others at risk. The university’s policies and guidance on health and safety provide guidance on good practice that is generally equally applicable when working at home.

Responsibilities

Managers must advise the Personnel and Health & Safety Departments of any employees who are employed to work principally from home. They must ensure that the member of staff has been provided with the university’s policy document on home working, i.e. this document. They must also ensure that appropriate risk assessments have been carried out, documented, the member of staff advised of the findings, and necessary control measures implemented.

Members of staff who are employed to work primarily from home must comply with their responsibilities as set out in the Health, Safety and Welfare Handbook, Part 1, Summary of responsibilities, Staff.

Guidance

Guidance specifically related to working from home is provided in leaflet INDG226 published by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). This leaflet can be accessed on the HSE’s website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg226.pdf or obtained from the Health and Safety department.

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4.15 Working from home