​The COVID-19 pandemic and our "new normal" of snap lockdowns means many of us will continue to work from home here and there for the foreseeable future.

Working from home is not a new concept, but the pandemic forced it upon many organisations and tested the flexibility of workplaces to accommodate working from home needs and productivity.

There are some important things local governments need to keep in mind.

Health and safety responsibilities still lie with the employer
Who is responsible if an employee is injured or becomes unwell while working from home? For example, if an employee injured their foot while walking around their home office, or injured their back while using a chair in their home office that wasn't supplied by the company. Or what if the mental pressures became too much, as it can be harder to switch off, and juggle the competing priorities of family and work, while working from home.

Local governments must do what is reasonably practicable to ensure the health and safety of an employee, but there are also obligations on the employee to ensure their own health and safety.  However, whether the employee is injured at the office or working from home, for health and safety purposes the obligations will still lie with the employer.

To mitigate this risk a number of steps can be taken:

• Undertake a health and safety assessment. If it is not possible to do one in person, consider a self-assessment audit – however the employee must be honest with their assessment.
• Put in place a work from home policy – this should cover a number of issues but at a basic level it should remind staff of their health and safety obligations, procedure to request to work from home, and approval requirements for equipment and company property to be supplied.
• Consider providing standard company property if it is an inherent requirement of the position.
• Consider undertaking appropriate working from home training for managers and employees to ensure expectations and standards are understood.

Can working from home arrangements be refused?
Requests to WFH will fall under flexible work arrangements, flexible work arrangements are underpinned by the National Employment Standards.

There is a general requirement to:

• Discuss any request with the employee regarding the request
• Take into consideration:
• Needs of the employee
• Proposed outcome for the employee if arrangements are agreed to
• Reasonable business grounds to refuse

Looking forward
It's fair to say that we are in unprecedented times, and the traditional working week will no doubt keep evolving. For guidance on how to best support your local government and colleagues during this time, particularly around working from home, please contact:

• LGIS WorkCare Services team on health@lgiswa.com.au for injury prevention and ergonomics assistance, as well as health and wellbeing queries
• LGIS OSH team on 9483 8888 or your regional risk coordinator for other safety enquiries.