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Consider Diane Valletta, a Chicago communications consultant. She placed her desk in the middle of the room, even though it meant stretching a lamp cord across a walkway to reach it. "It was a calculated risk," she says. "This way I could look out the window." Other hazards include a decorative iron grate in the floor over a heating duct, which could mean disaster for any client wearing high heels. Then there are the candles next to a paper desk calendar. Making matters worse, Ms. Valletta's office is on the second floor, with only one exit in case of fire -- down a stairwell. Most traditional offices must have two exits. "The house is probably an accident waiting to happen," Ms. Valletta says.

Some potential dangers seem truly benign. During a recent visit to the home office of Susan Brierly Wills, a marketing consultant in Mendham, N.J., a safety inspector found books about to slide off of shelves, creating trip hazards, and cords mashed up in a pile near a heating panel. But the really vexing problem was Darby, the part-hound dog, part-retriever that likes to curl up at Ms. Wills's feet. "He's like a rug," she says. However, Darby is also a roving, breathing trip hazard, and Darby could inadvertently nudge cords closer to the heater, says Kathy Seabrook, the safety consultant.

Safety experts affiliated with the American Society of Safety Engineers, who often track complaints, report such recent cases as that of a Portland, Ore., woman who had to be rushed to the emergency room for stitches after tripping over her telephone cord and smacking her chin against a bookshelf. In another case, a barefoot New Jersey consultant gashed open her foot when she stepped on an open three-ring binder she'd left on the floor. And unlike a traditional office, "if you're at home, there's no one to help you if you do get hurt," says the group's Mr. [Tim Fisher].

Copyright Dow Jones & Company Inc Jun 2, 2000

ALGONQUIN, Ill. -- You wouldn't know it from looking, but danger is lurking all over Jane Darling's home office.

It's in the box of Legos by her feet, and the tea parties her four-year-old daughter sets up nearby. It's in the telephone cord that stretches across the floor from a wall several feet away. And it's emanating from the clothes iron she has set up on the other side of the room.

These and other items common to the home office are a safety expert's nightmare. The toys and the cord could easily trip someone, and Ms. Darling has already knocked the iron on to her foot. "It absolutely killed," says Ms. Darling, a marketing consultant. "I thought my toe was coming off."

Home offices, it turns out, are breeding grounds for nasty cuts and bruises, not to mention broken bones and serious burns. Mindful of the dangers, Labor Secretary Alexis Herman recently called for a "national dialogue" on the issue of home-worker safety, and insurance companies are starting to offer accident policies specifically for the home office. Still, for the most part, experts say, homeowners don't take the hazards seriously.

"People don't think it will happen to them," says Tim Fisher, a safety expert at the American Society of Safety Engineers in Des Plaines, Ill. "So they're willing to take what they consider a small risk, even though it could potentially result in a really large accident."

Neck, back and arm injuries from chairs or keyboards are the most obvious dangers. But such "ergonomic" injuries, while common, aren't the half of it. Other problems, like strained power outlets, bad lighting that can lead to eye damage, or high shelves overloaded with supplies can be more perilous, because they can trigger trouble without warning.

No national agency appears to track injuries that occur specifically in home offices, but the number of people who work at home is soaring. An estimated 55 million Americans now do some such work, compared with about 40 million in 1995, according to the National Association of Home Based Businesses in Owings Mills, Md.

Safety experts affiliated with the American Society of Safety Engineers, who often track complaints, report such recent cases as that of a Portland, Ore., woman who had to be rushed to the emergency room for stitches after tripping over her telephone cord and smacking her chin against a bookshelf. In another case, a barefoot New Jersey consultant gashed open her foot when she stepped on an open three-ring binder she'd left on the floor. And unlike a traditional office, "if you're at home, there's no one to help you if you do get hurt," says the group's Mr. Fisher.

To be sure, there appear to be no reported deaths attributed to a home office-related accident, and many of the risks are remote. For example, home computers may pose a lower risk of overloading electrical circuits than do other appliances, since they tend to use less power.

Still, insurers and safety experts say accidents may go unreported because people are afraid they'll lose home-work privileges. And one thing is clear: People who work at home tend to accept risks they wouldn't encounter in a closely monitored traditional office.

Consider Diane Valletta, a Chicago communications consultant. She placed her desk in the middle of the room, even though it meant stretching a lamp cord across a walkway to reach it. "It was a calculated risk," she says. "This way I could look out the window." Other hazards include a decorative iron grate in the floor over a heating duct, which could mean disaster for any client wearing high heels. Then there are the candles next to a paper desk calendar. Making matters worse, Ms. Valletta's office is on the second floor, with only one exit in case of fire -- down a stairwell. Most traditional offices must have two exits. "The house is probably an accident waiting to happen," Ms. Valletta says.

Not surprisingly, insurers are scrambling to adjust to the changing workplace. In February, United Services Automobile Association, a San Antonio insurer, launched its first-ever home office insurance product after a survey of policyholders revealed that many more planned to start working at home. Others, including State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. of Bloomington, Ill., have also recently launched home office plans.

The problem has been more high-profile of late because of a controversial letter issued late last year by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, advising that companies are liable for the safety of employees working at home. The letter touched off protest from companies complaining they'd be held responsible for hazards they couldn't control. OSHA rescinded the letter, but Secretary Herman, called for a "national dialogue" on the issue.

At least one court has found employer liability: In February, a Utah Court of Appeals ruled that a sales manager who worked at home and slipped on his icy driveway while waiting for a delivery was entitled to workers' compensation benefits. The man became a quadriplegic.

Injuries, of course, aren't the only problem: Damage to property is a worry, too. Mr. Fisher of the American Society of Safety Engineers says he was once called out to a Mount Pleasant, Ill., home with giant cracks in its walls and ceiling. The culprit: the 5,000 or so pounds of files the owner had stored in her second-story home office. In another instance, he says, he visited a home office where a chafed extension cord ignited paper files, causing several hundred dollars of smoke damage.

Some potential dangers seem truly benign. During a recent visit to the home office of Susan Brierly Wills, a marketing consultant in Mendham, N.J., a safety inspector found books about to slide off of shelves, creating trip hazards, and cords mashed up in a pile near a heating panel. But the really vexing problem was Darby, the part-hound dog, part-retriever that likes to curl up at Ms. Wills's feet. "He's like a rug," she says. However, Darby is also a roving, breathing trip hazard, and Darby could inadvertently nudge cords closer to the heater, says Kathy Seabrook, the safety consultant.

Ms. Wills says she's now going to take extra precautions to make sure she's safe, too. "I'll push back the books and clear all the cords," she says. "But the dog stays."

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Credit: Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal