If you are one of the many who are now confined to working from home due to the lockdown, or those who usually work from home, the question is: Are you fully aware of the health and safety issues associated with homeworking, and have you taken appropriate measures to protect yourself? 
 
The health and safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) places a list of obligations on both employers, and employees, including the self-employed, a duty to protect their health, safety, and welfare, and the health and safety of others, when working from home. This training session is intended for anyone, and everyone, including those working as self-employed or volunteers, who use Display Screen Equipment (DSE), and who should understand the hazards of using DSEs, and take precaution to protect themselves.
 
During this training, we will explore with participants, the importance of paying sufficient attention to health and safety when working from home. We will discuss the specific and general risks from using your workstation when working at home, which include:
 
Musculoskeletal problems
Eye-related problems
Fatigue and stress
Electricity and fire
Isolation.
 
The training session will provide you with information and awareness to reduce your exposure to these risks when working at desktop or laptop computers. We will briefly discuss current UK regulations applicable to everyone working from home, including:
 
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 (amended 2002)
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002.
 
Participation in this training will enable you to:
 
Gain more understanding of the main risks associated with using display screen equipment
Know how to set up your workstations and environments to avoid these risks
Use laptops in a healthier way
Understand your responsibilities as an employee, or self-employed
Know what to do if you need to report a problem
 
The course will take approximately 90 minutes to complete. Ideally participants would undertake a test at the end of the course, however, this won’t be necessary for this introductory session. If you wish to undertake the test, and complete a self-assessment questionnaire, you will need to register for the full course. The material covered during the full course will assist you in completing the test and questionnaire correctly.