The purpose of this research is to reduce the risk of occupational injury and illness to employees who telecommute from their homes (telework). The rapid growth of teleworking has raised several social and legal issues regarding an employer's responsibility for an employee's home office. Current OSHA policy states that employers are not responsible for home offices; yet, teleworkers may be more at risk from occupational safety and health hazards than their co-workers who commute. In a corporate or government workplace, occupational safety and health risk factors are controlled or eliminated by the employer, building owner, or fire marshal. In the home workplace, employees must control or eliminate risk factors on their own. The long-range goals of this project are: (1) to develop a validated computer-based occupational safety and health training program for workers who telecommute from their homes; (2) to demonstrate the short- and long-term effects of the training on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of teleworkers; and (3) to demonstrate the effect of the safety training on the occupational injury and illness rates of teleworkers. Topics will include office ergonomics, fire safety, electrical safety, indoor air quality/radon, and falls/tripping. The program will be delivered in CD-ROM and web-based formats.
There is a large market for a teleworker safety program. The number of U.S. teleworkers rose from 4 million in 1990 to 16.5 million in 1999. The International Telework Association and Council has expressed an interest in including Safety for Teleworkers in their International Telework Institute (ITI). The web-version of Safety for Teleworkers will also be submitted to Click2Learn, for inclusion in their corporate training catalog. Click2Learn provides e-learning training solutions to large corporations, such as Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, and AT&T.
