Promoting Productivity and Mitigating Risk: How Businesses Can Help Employees Create Ergonomic Home Workspaces
By Dawn Scheidell, MS, CRC, ADAA, CEAS
Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist II
Guardian
By Paula Hinkle, RN
Nurse Case Manager, Professional Resource Team
Guardian
Changes to the work environment over the past year have created a new reality for today’s businesses. With so many offices shifting their working arrangements unexpectedly, many employees were not set up with a traditional home workspace. More than half of employees (54%) did not have a remote work setup before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.1
Many employers can provide equipment — such as monitors, keyboards, headsets, or wrist pads — or share resources such as a vocational specialist for guidance on ergonomic workspaces. Some employers are finding their employees are willing and able to adjust their own workstations if the employer supports them with communication, education, and training. Here are some tips to help your workforce set up — and, more importantly — continually adjust and use their home workstations in a way that promotes productivity and reduces risk.
Communicate
Businesses need to communicate to their employees what a home office should look like. Provide handouts and resources with tips for creating an ergonomic home workstation,2 and disseminate that information through your key communication channels, such as your company intranet or internal message board.
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