Right now, people around the globe are being encouraged to stay home. Disruptions from routine are becoming the new norm. Children are participating in homeschool, and adults are working from home, many of them for the first time.
When starting to work from a home office due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are some logistical items that will need to be established first— establishing VPN and cybersecurity protocols, access policies, cloud-based file sharing and Software as a Service. However, all employees’ physical well-being must be considered as well as their ability to be productive from home. Employers must consider the physical infrastructure. Those employees with a dedicated office space with a desk, chair, and proper lighting are ready to work. But many new to the home office setup are now working at the dining room table with a myriad of physical concerns.
Even while staying home to try and protect their health, those without an appropriate home office setup could do serious damage to their health. Poor ergonomics often leads to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, lower back pain, shoulder injuries, eye strain, and tendinitis, among others. MSDs account for an estimated 33% of all workplace-related injuries (Bureau of Labor Statistics) and cost employers between $15-20 billion each year (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), and these statistics are based on the past. With many more working from home without the aid of a proper desk, adjustable chairs and office design, these work-related injuries will likely increase. Ergonomic injuries are primarily caused by three factors: forceful exertion, repetitive movement, and poor posture. Among the many questions employers may be asking themselves right now is how they can promote employee wellness and safe work practices in this changing work environment.
Alliance Solutions Group (ASG) has been operating in a virtual office environment since its inception in 2005. As health and safety consultants, we developed in-house office ergonomics training, self-assessments, and analysis to ensure that our workers were properly configured in order to prevent future work-related injuries. Our self-paced training is easy to follow to educate home office workers on proper office setup, posture and environmental conditions, all from the comfort of a personal computer. Our self-assessment enables the home-office worker to self-identify risk factors and self-correct on the spot. Finally, our analysis, performed remotely by an industrial hygienist, provides recommendations to enhance the home office environment based on the assessment and photos of the office environment. Given our success in reducing risk factors by over 30% using this training and self-assessment, ASG decided to offer this proven training and assessment program to other businesses.
Given the dramatic increase in home office workers due to COVID-19, ASG is offering reduced pricing for organizations that want to prevent these injuries and reduce ergonomic risk factors for their team members. Visit https://asg-inc.teachable.com/ to enroll today, or contact us directly at instructor@asg-inc.org or 757-223-7233 for corporate group rates.
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