Although the advisory does not provide specifics, in effect it means that employers are responsible for making sure an employee has ergonomically correct furniture, such as chairs and computer tables, as well as proper lighting, heating, cooling and ventilation systems in the home office. The employer must also provide any needed training to comply with OSHA standards, including making sure the home work space has emergency medical plans and a first-aid kit. This is nuts. The law doesn't contemplate everyone painting their banisters yellow. But Peg Seminario, health and safety director of the AFL-CIO, said she agrees with the policy spelled out in the advisory.
Employers have to provide employees a workplace free from hazards.
It's such a paradigm shift in the way we manage people. The problem, however, is that though companies may have drafted legal documents as to workers' responsibilities, some workers simply don't know what makes a work environment safe or unsafe. OSHA officials made it clear they have no intention of conducting inspections at private homes the way they do at employer work sites. And they are not requiring employers to routinely inspect the home work sites of their employees. But the advisory does hold employers responsible for any illnesses or injuries that occur in the home workplace.