Do you have employees working from home or remotely; have you considered you health, safety and welfare duties? 
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 places a duty on the Employer to manage work activities in a safe and healthy manner, to provide safe work, safe systems of work, safe equipment, etc. and it does not differentiate between workplace or remote working.
The requirement for a rapid change to remote or home working meant that many employers were unable to plan for this. But as part of the Government’s Strategy Making Remote Work: National Remote Work Strategy, home working and remote working will be with us for some time to come; and in some cases it’s here to stay! As this is changing from a temporary arrangement to a long term one, consultation with employees should take place to explain why this longer term remote working is necessary and allow employees to give their views and discuss the suitability of the arrangement.
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 also places a duty on the Employee to ensure they work safely, adhere to company health and safety rules, report unsafe conditions, etc. therefore it is important to make employees aware of their health and safety duties, the risks associated with home working and the requirement complete risk assessments.
The OSS Consultancy Team will be happy to help advise and guide you in the safest ways to manage your remote or home workers.
For more information or health and safety advice please call us Phone: 061 422207 Mobile: 087 616 2564 Email: info@ossltd.ie or complete our Enquiry Form.
Additional information:
We also have an online DSE course on our eLearning Website that employees could complete https://www.odwyersafetyservices.ie/course/online-courses/online-dsevdu
You may want to make employees aware that there is an eWorking or Home working tax relief available for workers: see information from Revenue https://www.revenue.ie/en/employing-people/employee-expenses/e-working-and-home-workers/index.aspx
There is some information on Citizens Information regarding home working. It is aimed at home working during the pandemic however the majority of the information is relevant to home working in general https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/health_and_safety/working_at_home.html