OSHA Telecommuting Rules

After a trial balloon on the subject of regulating home offices caused an uproar, the federal Occupational Safety and health Administration (OSHA) issued a formal directive that should soothe concerns about possible intrusions into workers' homes. The directive is intended to guide OSHA compliance officers charged with enforcing OSUA rules.

The crux of the directive is that OSHA will not inspect home offices for violations of federal safety and health rules, and it does not expect employers to do so either. The directive also states that an employer is not liable for an employee's home office. If OSHA receives a complaint about a home office and a specific request from an employee, it may informally let an employer know about the home office condition, but it will not follow up with the employer or the employee.

OSHA will conduct inspections of other home-based worksites, such as home manufacturing operations, when it receives a complaint or a referral indicating the presence of a violation of a standard threatening physical harm or posing an imminent danger. An employer is responsible for hazards caused in home worksites by materials, equipment, or work processes that the employer provides or requires to be used in an employee's home. Examples of activities that might prompt such an inspection include electronics assembly, using unguarded crimping machines, or handling potentially hazardous materials without adequate protection. Such an inspection, however, would be confined to the actual work environment, not to an entire dwelling.

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