During the Jan. 25, 2021 Faculty/Staff Town Hall, Associate Dean for Human Resources Hope Broadus, JD, responded to the question, “As SMPH continues to encourage employees to work from home if possible, what resources are available to academic and university staff to ensure workplaces do not create undue physical burden?”
- Work with your supervisor to discuss office equipment that you need in order to perform your work safely.
- Many times it’s just a matter of getting something from your onsite office
- If office equipment is needed due to a medical condition, reach out to the SMPH Divisional Disability Representative (DDR) by emailing smph-accommodation@med.wisc.edu
- The equipment purchased will need to return to the office.
- Environmental Health and Safety provides ergonomic services free-of-charge to eligible UW–Madison employees to promote employee health and safety: https://ehs.wisc.edu/workplace-safety/occupational-health/ergonomics/
- Website has training for setting up your computer workstation and for requesting an ergonomic assessment
- Limited service offerings until March 2021
- In addition to resources addressing physical burdens, there are also some great resources that support mental health and wellbeing, which is equally important during the pandemic:
- The Department of Psychiatry has compiled a curated collection of resources from a variety of sources to support the mental health and emotional wellbeing of our community during this difficult time: https://www.psychiatry.wisc.edu/covid-19-mental-health-resource-guide-support/
- COVID-19 Materials from LifeMatters related to stress, worry, and mental health; staying healthy; work impact; family and child care; finances; coping with grief and loss; etc.: https://www.empathia.com/promos/COVID19.php
- If you are struggling with figuring out where to start in addressing your physical workspace away from the office, please reach out to your HR Representative: https://intranet.med.wisc.edu/human-resources/contact-information/