This article was originally emailed as our monthly eBulletin at 11:30 on 8/04/2020. You can register here to receive them monthly.
WORKING FROM HOME – A GLOBAL PREOCCUPATION
Government guidance (or insistence) to work from home if possible makes this a significant topic across the globe. As you already know, there is endless information available through social media and, as always, the quality is variable. As a consumer, separating the valuable insights from the regurgitated press releases can be a time-consuming activity in itself. Equally, as an author, I try to offer useful content and get it heard above the noise. For this month’s newsletter, therefore, I have just written about what we know, what we are finding, what we have experienced and what we anticipate. Reporting is of little value without drawing conclusions or offering suggestions so follow the links below to find out more.
WORKING FROM HOME – IMPACT ON PHYSICAL HEALTH
The universal implications of COVID-19 are hard for any of us to grasp fully. In the workplace, we observe a domino effect with new demands appearing week by week. We are seeing employers sending people home to work in very large numbers. This is an inevitable response to government instructions but the needs and productivity of each homeworker are proving very variable.
Obviously, home working is not new and many employers have been developing home working capability as part of a broader Agile Working plan for some time. The differences currently are the pace, the scale and, most significantly, the lack of comprehensive preparation.
WORKING FROM HOME – IMPACT ON MENTAL HEALTH
Unusually, I have similar experience to the current lockdown.
I was staying with my brother in Houston, Texas when Hurricane Harvey landed in 2017. By the time I arrived, shops and restaurants had already closed and, by the following morning, only very large stores were open.
Within hours, supermarket shelves were bare and we were on an island about 3 miles in diameter. Flood water blocked roads in all directions. Thousands of people were stranded upstairs in their homes. The overwhelming power of water was in evidence everywhere and it was frustrating to feel so helpless.
As mentioned in one of the blogs above, Champion Health is now a collaboration partner.
I shall be posting more about them in due course but I wanted to draw your specific attention to their Online Mental Health Training which is now available completely free during the COVID-19 pandemic. In less than an hour, participants can learn about self-care and healthy working at home; boosting resilience; understanding stress, anxiety and depression and supporting others.
For the longer term, their unique digital survey tool reviews physical, mental and lifestyle health and provides anonymised data that enables employers to focus resources on the areas that really need attention, ensuring maximum benefit for staff and maximum ROI for the organisation.
WEBINAR – TIPS FOR HOMEWORKERS
I seem to have received more webinar invitations in the last week than in the last three months. Interestingly, only one invitation offered a choice of times. Maybe this is just my interpretation, but there seems to be a widespread assumption that we are all sitting at home staring out of the window and waiting for something to do!
We have decided to take a different approach so our ‘Tips for Homeworkers’ has been recorded by Stuart Entwistle, our Training Manager.
It is available here to view whenever it suits you.
Workplace Evolutionaries, a cross-disciplinary global community, is using this unique opportunity to carry out worldwide research about the work-from-home (WFH) experience.
The research objectives include finding out what is and isn’t working, the potential impact of WFH on employers, employees and the environment and the likely impact of COVID-19 on future workplace designs and practices.
You can find out more about the survey and participation, either as an individual or as an organisation, from this download or go straight to the questions here.
Posted by Guy Osmond 
Running an SME is a demanding job. Fulfilling some or all of the roles of CEO, Finance, Quality, Estates, Facilities, Occupational Health, Health & Safety, Fire Officer, First Aider, Transport Manager and Housekeeper fills a long day! However, as the business starts to grow, it is possible to delegate some (and, eventually, most) of this responsibility. Even so, it might be forgiven if staff wellbeing slips down the daily agenda. Fortunately, the culture of most SMEs supports many elements of wellbeing by default (and probably by accident in the first instance). 
This year, the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors 
The WT programme covers a rolling series of topical issues in workplace design. Last month, I attended the 
By the time you read this, we shall either be in the process of exhibiting at, or will have already attended 
Osmond Ergonomics 