Teleworking and health risks: what do we know and how to prevent them ?

Télétravail et risques pour la santé : encore trop peu de données

Dans un avis rendu public ce 19 février, l’Anses estime que les connaissances sur le télétravail, notamment ses effets sur la santé physique et mental, sont insuffisantes. L’agence pointe la nécessiter de poursuivre les recherches afin d’identifier et prévenir les risques.

Teleworking has become widespread since the Covid-19 crisis, 4 years ago. However, according to the National Health Safety Agency (ANSES), scientific data on this new organization of work remains to date insufficient to fully understand and prevent health risks.

This is what emerges from a study, commissioned by ANSES, conducted by the Institute for Research in Environmental and Occupational Health (Irset). The oldest studies and those carried out during the pandemic are in fact considered obsolete due to the rapid development of teleworking and the pandemic context which is now irrelevant.

Risks identified

Based on the available knowledge, this work was however able to highlight several undesirable effects and aggravating factors of teleworking in three areas:

health: musculoskeletal disorders, impacts on vision, disruption of circadian rhythms such as the sleep-wake rhythm, effects on eating and addictive behaviors, accidents, impact on mental health; social life: changes in the relationship between professional life and the socio-family sphere; work activity: increased requirements in terms of responsiveness and availability, development of atypical work schedules, changes in relational dynamics between colleagues and with the hierarchy, evolution of satisfaction and satisfaction; involvement at work, etc.

In this last area, the assessment of the real burden of working time, by all links in the chain, remains problematic. "The content of real work is sometimes difficult to perceive, whether for researchers who investigate the subject, managers who supervise remote workers or even workers who modify their organization without always realizing it , which is likely to induce an additional cognitive and professional load", develops l’Anse in an opinion published this Monday.

Give a strict definition to teleworking

"Identifying the risks linked to teleworking, for prevention purposes, requires the mobilization of all stakeholders – employers, professional risk prevention specialists, workers and their representatives – in order to generate knowledge and solutions that take into account the reality of work situations and the activities of teleworkers, pleases Anses. A complex job even though there are many forms and modalities of teleworking.

Thus, the agency recommends giving a strict definition to teleworking, which will be a reference for research work. It also recommends carrying out quantitative and qualitative studies in order to document teleworking (surveys carried out by public statistics stakeholders, epidemiological surveillance, multidisciplinary approach in order to analyze all the determinants).< /p>

Several parameters should be specifically and systematically documented: the nature of teleworking, family status, gender, socio-professional category, access to occupational health, etc.

L’Anses also reminds employers of their obligations with regard to all employees, the same whether they are teleworkers or not, in order to ensure that they do not hesitate to contact them. ensure their safety and protect everyone’s physical and mental health.

According to figures available on Statista.com, 33% of French employees teleworked at least once a week in 2023.