Employee Safety & Ergonomics

Employees are expected to maintain their home workspace in a safe manner, free from safety hazards. Injuries sustained by the employee in a home office location and in conjunction with the employee’s regular work duties may be covered by workers' compensation. Employees working remotely are responsible for notifying the County of such injuries within ten working days (Policy 390.2K). The employee is liable for any injuries sustained by visitors at the employee’s alternate worksite.

Employees are expected to complete an Annual Safety Checklist. (After following this link please choose the PDF named Remote Safety Checklist)

• Employee workspaces should be free of clutter, loose cords, and rugs.  
• Walkways should be clear of obstructions.
• Your area should have sufficient electrical power outlets to prevent overburdening the electrical supply.  If power strips are used, they should be equipped with surge protection and overload protection.
• Cords across walkways should be taped down or covered with floor mats to prevent trips and falls.
• The area beneath your desk should be free from clutter to allow proper leg movement and to prevent tripping.

The County recommends that employees use their cell phone to dial 911. If that's not possible, we recommend dialing 911 with Zoom Phone, then the Zoom Desktop app as a last resort. 

Remote workers must update their physical location in the Zoom Desktop app each time they work somewhere new, so that if they dial 911 from the Zoom Desktop app, emergency services can locate them.

• Using a cell phone to dial 911 is the most reliable way for emergency services to track the employee's location through their cell carrier.
• When dialing 911 from Zoom Phone, the configuration switches from the application to the cell carrier.
• When dialing 911 from the Desktop app, emergency services relies on the employee to input their physical location properly.

For those covered by the Address Confidentiality Program (ACP), IT recommends that employees enter their actual physical location into the Desktop app so that in the event of a 911 call, emergency services can locate them properly. However, upon completing the police report or making a records request, the employee can show their ACP card and request that their address be masked/changed as required by law. There is a setting within Zoom that can be changed to hide an employee's address from Zoom Admins. The employee may contact the Service Desk to make this request. 

Mandatory Remote workers have the following responsibilities and processes for ensuring ergonomic compliance while remote working:

• From the onset of remote work application, the employee is to familiarize themselves with ergonomic handouts and educational videos to understand guidelines for setting up a home office, including equipment and ergonomic accessories. The educational piece will also include training to identify risk factors, ergonomic solutions, symptom recognition, and reporting. 
• Within 30 days, each employee approved for the remote work program is required to complete an online Home Office ergonomic evaluation (ErgoIQ) and submit photos of their work area to Risk Management at safety@larimer.org. 
• The results of the evaluation and submitted photos will be reviewed by Risk Management from which proper equipment and safety recommendations will be made. 
• If deemed necessary by Risk Management, a more comprehensive virtual home office ergonomic evaluation will be scheduled with a third-party provider.  Risk Management will coordinate with the provider to perform the virtual evaluation. 
• Reports will be provided directly to Risk Management. Risk Management will review all reports and follow-up with the employee to ascertain the necessary steps to move forward. To contact Risk Management about Safety and Workers’ Compensation email safety@larimer.org or call (970) 498-5966.
• Risk Management will specify any necessary ergonomic equipment (such as keyboard, mouse, footrest, monitor stands, etc) the employee may benefit from. It is important that ergonomic equipment is selected to ensure the equipment will provide benefit to the employee with the intent to prevent future injuries.  
• The employee is to email safety@larimer.org or call (970) 498-5966 Risk Management after receiving the recommended equipment for assistance in proper ergonomic setup assistance. Once final adjustments have been made, a photo of the employee’s remote workstation is to be provided to Risk Management. Risk Management will follow up with the employee within 60 days to ensure no further intervention is needed.
• The reports collected will be maintained by Risk Management in the event a department needs to access them in the future.
• Each employee will be required to re-certify every year to remain eligible. Any significant changes to the employee’s workstation, such as moving to a new location, will require recertification as well.
  • Recertification steps are as follows:
    • On the anniversary of the employee's remote work date, the employee will re-take the ErgoIQ test. The employee will submit current photos of their workspace to Risk Management.  If the employee meets Risk Management requirements, they will be certified for an additional year. 
• Employees should email safety@larimer.org or call (970) 498-5966 Risk Management for ergonomic assistance