Need to protect workers’ health while working from home: WHO & ILO

NEW DELHI: The World Health Organisation and the International Labour Organisation have called for measures to be put in place to protect workers’ health while teleworking (working from home). The two United Nations agencies released a new technical brief to healthy and safe teleworking, which outlines the health benefits and risks of teleworking. It also elaborates on the changes needed to accommodate the shift towards different forms of remote work arrangements brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the digital transformation of work.

The paper said that improved work–life balance, chances for flexible working hours and physical activity, reduced traffic and commuting time, and a reduction in air pollution are among the benefits. All of these can boost physical and mental health and social welfare of workers. For many businesses, teleworking can result in increased productivity and cheaper operating costs.

However, the report warns that without proper planning and organisation, as well as health and safety support, teleworking can have a significant negative impact on workers’ physical and mental health, as well as their social well-being. Isolation, burnout, depression, domestic violence, musculoskeletal and other injuries, eye strain, increased smoking and alcohol consumption, prolonged sitting and screen time, and unhealthy weight gain are all possible consequences.

The paper explains the roles that governments, businesses, employees, and workplace health services should play in promoting and preserving teleworker health and safety.

Dr Maria Neira, Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health, World Health Organisation, said that in the nearly two years since the pandemic began, it has become evident that teleworking can have both positive and negative health consequences. The outcome is totally dependent on whether governments, companies, and workers collaborate, as well as whether there are agile and innovative occupational health services in place to implement policies and practices that benefit both workers and the workplace.

The paper states that employers need to ensure that employees have adequate equipment to complete job tasks; provide relevant information, guidelines, and training to reduce the psychosocial and mental health effects of teleworking; train managers in effective risk management, distance leadership, and workplace health promotion; and establish the “right to disconnect” and adequate rest days. According to the report, employing digital telehealth technologies, occupational health services should be able to provide teleworkers with ergonomic, mental health, and psychosocial aid.

The paper presents effective telework organisation options that meet both workers’ and employers’ needs. Discussing and developing individual teleworking work plans and clarifying priorities; being clear about timelines and expected results; agreeing on a common system for signalling availability for work; and ensuring that managers and colleagues respect the system are just a few of the items on the list.

Businesses with teleworkers should create teleworking-specific programmes that combine measures for work and performance management with information and communication technologies and appropriate equipment, as well as occupational health services for general health, ergonomics, and psychosocial support.