Many companies rely on telework to stay in business during the health crisis. This can create risks for the health and safety of employees. The National Institute of Research and Security (INRS) calls for particular vigilance.
Risks
The remoteness:
The anxiety-provoking lockdown associated with not going to the workplace and meeting with colleagues, as well as potential challenges with communication technologies, exacerbate the effects of isolation.
Hyper-connection at work:
The multiplication of requests by email or audio and video conferences, the creation of numerous groups of exchanges, the concern not to be forgotten... can complicate teleworking.
The difficulty of managing your autonomy:
Full-time teleworking may aggravate the personal organizational problems that some employees may encounter.
Difficulty in finding work-life balance:
In a situation of confinement, the employee shares his space with his family, itself confined, and often bears additional family expenses (childcare, home school...).
The solutions
In order to avoid damage to his health, the teleworker is recommended to
settle, as far as possible, in a dedicated workspace so as not to be disturbed;
arrange the work station so that it can work in good conditions and so as to limit the risks of musculoskeletal disorders ;
organize the work in:
scheduling;
allowing themselves regular breaks to allow for phases of visual rest and to avoid maintaining a seated posture for too long;
anticipating and planning, where possible, the workload to organize tasks according to priorities and the time needed;
Informing employees of his status (busy on a task that requires concentration, absent on a break, available if you can be contacted).
using the communication tools available to facilitate exchanges (e-mails,
chats
, shared documents, videoconferencing, collaborative work tools, shared agenda);
maintaining contact with colleagues and management with regular points.
For local supervisors, you should:
ensure regular contact with each teleworker and organize virtual group meetings;
respect the right to disconnect, even if the modalities have not yet been discussed within the company (notably by respecting decent times for telephone calls);
adapting the objectives and monitoring of the activity to the particular conditions.
Please note
Telework introduced in the context of the epidemic differs from the regular telework already in place in some companies:
it is an imposed telework whose decision to set up has often been quick and unprepared;
it is carried out on a full-time basis, without a regular return to the office;
it is practiced at home, access to the
coworking
no longer possible;
it is often practiced in a restrictive family environment (spouse also teleworking, children at home taking their courses remotely).
