Has your company just asked you to work from home due to COVID-19. First off, thank you for your diligence and your company’s adherence to these recommendations. We all have a responsibility to do our part.
Sandalwood has implemented the following procedures and have put together some tips we want to share with you.
Preparing your Home Office
Your office should be somewhere you like to be. You should work in a bright, well ventilated pleasant space. Working from the kitchen table may get old quickly and if you can designate a room or corner of your house that is quiet, free of clutter and comfortable as your workspace you will be more successful, comfortable and focused. Having a separate work area will also help you to ‘go to work’ in the morning and ‘leave’ when you are done at night
Don’t forget about Health and Safety
Conduct regular inspections of your workspace to ensure clear pathways, electrical hazards and all equipment is functioning and properly serviced i.e. fire extinguishers. Many accidents occur at home. When you are working from home you need to look closely at your surroundings with your “safety” hat on.
Take a look at our Safety Checklist to review your safety when working from home.
Remote Office Employee Safety Checklist
Ergonomics
Are you using a laptop? Don’t have a home office? It may not be ideal, but these tips can help:
- Ideally you should have an external keyboard and mouse.
- Place your laptop on a riser or a few books to improve neck posture.
- Can’t invest in an ergonomic chair – use a box to support your feet and place a pillow in your low back.
- Look at these two pictures for support – the same philosophies apply when sitting at your desk or your kitchen table.
Don’t forget to take frequent breaks, walk around the room or stand when on conference calls. Try some stretches at your desk, focus on drinking lots of water.