Q&A: Safety, workers' comp and the remote workforce
Michael Schultz, cofounder at Aclaimant, shares some insights into how to address the unique safety challenges that come with a remote workforce.
Businesses across the country learned a lot from this year’s sudden dive into the Great Work-From-Home Experiment. They’ve had to embrace and master a range of new technologies and digital tools, as well as adapt their company cultures and communication strategies.
For some companies, the transition has been more successful: Twitter has announced that its employees will never have to return to the office if they so choose. Other companies, like Google and GM, continue to monitor the current pandemic situation and extend WFH policies accordingly.
As the WFH experiment continues, it will bring new challenges for employers, as well, such as how to tackle employee training and development, and, perhaps more importantly, how to ensure worker safety and well-being.
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Michael Schultz, cofounder at Aclaimant, recently shared with BenefitsPRO some insights into how to address the unique safety challenges that come with a remote workforce, as well as the challenges faced by companies that have had to keep their doors open throughout the pandemic.
As remote work continues to be the norm, what should companies keep top of mind in terms of keeping employees safe – including while working remotely?
As companies continue to navigate the current remote work situation, it’s important they place a high priority on employee safety. While working remotely can better protect workers from the threat of contracting the COVID-19 virus, it ultimately exposes them to new workplace safety risks. With that in mind, companies must ensure the same safety precautions that were in place at the office are also promoted in employees’ home offices. This includes encouraging ergonomic workstations, preventing slips, trips and falls and even supporting employees’ physical and mental health well-being.
At the end of the day, the easiest thing companies can do is frequently communicate with employees to emphasize that their well-being is a top priority as well as share resources that will help them improve their safety while working from home.
For essential businesses, organizations that weren’t able to work from home throughout the pandemic, or those returning to the office, what should organizations’ safety strategy look like?
Putting a strategy in place for employee safety while also adhering to the ever-changing guidelines from the CDC, OSHA and local governments can be especially difficult for essential business, companies that weren’t able to work from home during the pandemic or those getting ready to return to the office. Companies must include standardization of practices, consistent enforcement, and tools and technologies to have visibility and insight into the many risk areas are all necessary for effective risk mitigation.
While risk managers should be leading the charge of this strategy, other stakeholders and key leaders within the organization must be on board to ensure employees and managers across the board are held accountable and that everyone is on the same page.
How has COVID-19 forced companies to rethink their employee benefits program? What should they prioritize moving into a post-pandemic world?
As COVID-19 has accelerated transformation across all aspects of businesses, it’s important companies also use this time to rethink their employee benefits program as well. Companies must include unrestricted access and affordability to mental, physical and psychological health professionals within their employee benefits program. Additionally, as companies tackle productivity and employee engagement problems while working remotely, a rejuvenated focus on employee health will ensure that these aspects of the employee experience will improve as well as the overall business.
How has workers’ comp changed throughout COVID-19? How can employers navigate claims or injuries when they happen remotely and not in the office?
The COVID-19 pandemic has created countless challenges when it comes to workers’ compensation, as each state has its own unique policy, and no cut and dry answer as to whether an employee who contracts COVID-19 is covered under workers’ compensation.
Despite differences in handling cases across the country, there is groundwork that can be laid out by employers to ensure they are navigating the situation appropriately, especially when injuries and claims happen remotely. First and foremost, there must be an agreed upon and implied level of transparency and trust between the employee and employer for this to work.
Additionally, employers must be able to report, document and triage an incident in real time to instill a safety-first company culture. In addition, there are a few considerations employers can keep in mind to better instill this culture of transparency, safety and trust. These include:
- Frequently communicating policy updates that outline the employers’ expectations of employees while working from home, and provide resources for how to achieve a sustainable work-life balance. It’s also important to initiate conversations with leadership and employees to show that work-life balance is important from a business stand-point.
- Establish guidelines for setting up home offices and provide training for workstation set up and safety measures when possible.
- Encourage employees to establish fixed work hours and rest hours with their managers, to prevent burnout as well as avoid injuries that may come from restlessness.
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