At the moment there is a tendency that people want to match their work with their private situation in an ideal way, often referred to as Work Life Balance. The ambitions nowadays are not only in the field of work, but also in social, sporting and creative areas. Hence. Working from home, teleworking or starting a sole proprietorship and working as a self-employed person without personnel (ZZP'er) offers possibilities for a flexible interpretation of your home workplace. But do you know the health and safety rules for your home workplace?
At the end of 2011, for example, according to the figures from Statistics Netherlands, the Netherlands had 739,000 self-employed persons, at the end of 2012 this group grew by 2% to 752,000 and now there are more than one million. More than a third of this group is women!
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Working from home (performing work at home, often at a workplace set up by the employer) and teleworking (working outside the office at any location such as restaurants, stations, parks) are called location-independent working or The New Way of Working. But a home workplace must meet certain rules if you want to be able to work well.
A few major advantages of flexible working are that you decide for yourself what hours you work. And that the work location is close by or even at home. This makes it easier to coordinate the hectic pace of the various ambitions without having to deal with fixed working hours, meetings and traffic jams. The last two in particular often cause extra stress. The knife cuts both ways, for example when combining work with taking care of the children:you are there for the children when desired and you can work when the children are sleeping or at school. In addition, working from home also provides other benefits:
The workplace outside the office must comply with a number of health and safety regulations, which are included in the Working Conditions Act. More flexible rules apply to your home workplace and teleworking than to the workplace in your employer's company. Logical perhaps, but good to know!
Below is a brief summary:
Since 1 July 2012, it is easier to telecommute. Fewer occupational health and safety rules now apply to working elsewhere than in the employer's company or organisation. For example, your employer is no longer obliged to provide earplugs if you work in a noisy environment outside the company. You must let your employer know where you want to work.
Occupational health and safety rules also apply to self-employed persons. General regulations that the self-employed person must comply with are:
No system obligations apply to the self-employed, such as the risk inventory and evaluation (RI&E). This means that the self-employed person has less administrative burden. There are a number of points for attention.
As of 1 July 2012, the occupational health and safety obligations for self-employed persons without staff have been adjusted. Until then, rules only applied to serious risks and danger to third parties. But in the new situation, all rules that prescribe measures to prevent or limit occupational risks apply to self-employed workers. The extra rules in the Working Conditions Decree concern, for example, risks such as lifting, noise and vibration. The main consequence of this is that self-employed workers receive the same protection as salaried employees when they are working at the same place of work. For self-employed workers who work alone, the rules remain unchanged for their home workplace.
And that's where the danger creeps in…
Because as a self-employed person who works alone and from home, it is important that you ensure a good working environment and home workplace. Even if you set your priorities differently. A working environment that is not only pleasant (for example, thanks to a nice desk and sufficient light), but also a working environment that contributes to your health.
Because isn't it true that as a freelancer you take all the hours you can get? Don't you work more hours on average than you probably should? Or too long in a row? Are you taking your break on time? Relax in between the hours of work. Most female self-employed workers who work from home do not allow themselves the time. The work has to be finished and the children also want attention. That means going strong, even in the evening. A bad home workplace and, for example, a bad posture ensure that you get complaints in the neck and shoulders more quickly. Keep that in mind, because you are the most valuable asset for your business.
