No-one may interfere with or misuse any object that has been provided in the interest of health and safety. A person may, for example, not remove a safety guard from a machine and use the machine or allow anybody else to use it without such a guard (The South African Labour Guide, n.d.).
The Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 also elaborates on the role of health and safety representatives, health and safety committees and reporting occupational diseases to the Chief Inspector. For the purpose of this study, it is not discussed in detail.
From the above it is clear that employers have a legal obligation to provide safe and healthy working conditions to all employees, and their work activities may not expose others, such as customers or suppliers, or the surrounding community to hazards and risks. If an employer does not comply with legislation, a penalty, prosecution or even criminal liability could be the consequence. Implementing such measures will save the employer money, improve productivity, and increase employee morale. Organisations often incur financial losses associated with occupational injuries and illnesses. These expenditures have to come out of the organisation’s profits. These losses include costs such as legal fees, fines, compensatory damages, investigation time, lost production and lost goodwill from the workforce, from customers and from the wider community. The main objective of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 could be described as a pro-active attempt by government to provide and maintain a safe and healthy work environment to all (Boshoff, 2013).
Ellison (2012:8-11) states that most telework guidelines do not include any information on how to ensure that the work environment at home is suitable from a safety perspective. She regards this as interesting since the employer is required to provide a place of employment free from recognised hazards according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s general duty clause. In addition, if injured while performing work-related activities at home, the injury will still be viewed as a workers’ compensation claim. Possible solutions for providing ergonomic support to teleworkers include an online ergonomic assessment, such as commercially available systems or a program developed in- house. The online assessment systems provide training and/or guidance and tips on ergonomics. In addition to the online system, organisations provide remote phone support
to assist with questions or to provide further support in the event of any discomfort or early warning sign of work-related disorders. Organisations refrain from onsite ergonomic assessments in employees’ homes. Various methods are available to conduct remote assessments of home office workstations. Digital pictures can be useful when conducting remote assessments because the evaluator can see the exact equipment that employees are using and where they are working. Computers with web cameras allow the evaluator to see live pictures of employees working at their workstations. It can also allow the evaluator to demonstrate what posture is appropriate and how things should be positioned, instead of having to merely rely on a verbal description. Teleworkers can make use of home office safety checklists that are quick to complete and allow the evaluator to review it. Another method is online self-evaluations that combine training and safety checklists in one place and provide immediate feedback to employees to help them adjust their own workstations. Telephone assessments provide direct interaction with employees. Evaluators can call employees while they are at their workstations, ask open-ended questions to gain better insight into employees’ working habits, positions and challenges and then direct employees how to set up their workstations. Lastly, pre-established vendor and equipment lists can be keys to creating an efficient ergonomics program. The ideal solution would be to use a tiered approach of online self-assessments involving telephone assessments with digital photographs and pre-approved solutions that allow employees to be empowered to set up their own workstations and to get the assistance they need as quickly as possible.
In the United States of America, musculoskeletal disorders are a widespread occupational health problem, with severe consequences for the worker and the employer. It is possible to track musculoskeletal disorders in a workplace in order to prioritise ergonomic interventions that are usually cost-effective and tend to decrease fatigue and improve productivity as well as reduce health problems. While the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration does not have a specific standard on ergonomics, it does cite and fine organisations with musculoskeletal disorder problems based on the general duty clause and other provisions. Currently, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s primary regulatory tool for ergonomics falls under what is called the “General Duty Clause” of the original Occupational Safety and Health Administration Act, which states that the employer must “furnish to each of its employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm” (Section 5(a) (1) of the OSHA Act). Occupational
Safety and Health Administration has been interpreting that to mean that if there is evidence (primarily from reports of musculoskeletal disorders) that there are ergonomic problems, that those problems must be addressed. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued significant fines in some industries around ergonomic issues based on the “General Duty Clause” (Atwood, 2004:55-58).
The South African Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 is clearly preventative in nature. The organisations, who allow flexible work arrangements must also adhere to the Occupational Health and Safety Act to ensure that teleworkers are working in safe environment, apply ergonomics and therefore protect teleworkers from work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
2.4.3 Section 65 (1) (a) of the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases