Self-assessment of risks in teleworking
The pandemic caused by the Coronavirus is posing a health and social emergency not known before in our country, which is why permanent legislative developments are also being produced to adapt companies and workers to the new situation.
Last Wednesday, March 18, the Royal Decree-Law 8/2020 of March 17, of extraordinary urgent measures to take facing the economic and social impact of COVID-19.
Article 5 of the aforementioned Royal Decree establishes the preferential nature of remote work in this situation. In particular, it indicates that organizational systems will be established that allow the activity to be maintained through alternative mechanisms, particularly through remote work, and the company must adopt the appropriate measures if this is technically and reasonably possible and if the necessary adaptation effort is proportionate.
With the aim of facilitating the exercise of the remote work modality in those sectors, companies or jobs in which it was not provided for until now, the obligation to carry out the risk assessment will be deemed fulfilled, in the terms provided for in article 16 of the Law 31/1995, of November 8, on Occupational Risk Prevention, on an exceptional basis, through a self-assessment carried out voluntarily by the worker themselves.
To carry out this self-assessment the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy prepared a draft questionnaire for the development of teleworking at home. The document was prepared in the draft phase of regulatory development and is currently not published as an annex to the aforementioned Royal Decree, therefore, it does not appear to date among the official documentation provided by the ministries affected by Covid-19.
Fraternidad-Muprespa, as an aid to its mutual members, has proceeded to publish on March 30th a questionnaire model based on the draft of the Ministry of Labor so that it can be used or adapted by companies. This questionnaire can be found in our web portal dedicated to Covid-19 within the section dedicated to teleworking with advice and recommendations.
The questionnaires are non-exhaustive and should be understood as an identification of the conditions that, at a minimum, the teleworking position should have. The questions refer to the specific conditions of the place in which the worker carries out his or her task with the help of the computer and auxiliary elements such as the telephone or documents. Therefore, it does not refer to the general conditions of the home but only to those referring to the physical place in which the task is carried out.
The procedure according to the response to each item in the questionnaire is established so that, if the answer to the question is affirmative, this means that the working condition is adequate and that no action is necessary. On the contrary, if the answer to the question is negative, it is recommended that the worker take measures to adapt.If this is not possible, the company's prevention service will be notified for analysis and, where appropriate, adoption of measures.
It is important to emphasize the need for the collection of information carried out through the questionnaire to be accompanied by specific training for the worker on the risks and preventive measures applicable in a teleworking position.
Working safely
At Fraternidad-Muprespa we work to reduce the accident rate of our mutual members and disseminate a culture of prevention and to For this reason, we have our web portal dedicated to the prevention of occupational risks and the development of a culture of health Previene where you can find interesting informative material with entertaining and specialized content on safety and health at work. Great support to help you in the work of informing and raising awareness among your workers with news, brochures, infographics, videos or good practice manuals that we encourage you to consult.
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