Lone Working Policy

The Company will ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that employees contractors who are required to work alone or unsupervised are protected from risks to their health and safety. Measures will also be adopted to protect anyone else affected by solitary working.

Solitary working exposes employees and others to certain hazards. The Company’s objective is either to entirely remove the risks from these hazards or, where complete elimination is not possible, to reduce them to a minimal level.

ARRANGEMENTS FOR SECURING THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF WORKERS

Assessments of the risks of working alone carried out under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 will confirm whether the work can actually be done safely by one unaccompanied person. This will include the identification of hazards from, for example, means of access and/or egress, plant, machinery, goods, substances and environment, etc.

Particular consideration will be given to:

The remoteness or isolation of workplaces
Any problems of communication
The possibility of interference, such as violence or criminal activity from other persons
The nature of injury or damage to health and anticipated ‘worst case’ scenario.

INFORMATION AND TRAINING

Employees and others will be given all necessary information, instruction, training and supervision to enable them to recognise the hazards and appreciate the risks involved with working alone. Employees will be required to follow the safe working procedures as devised. Information will include the provision of first aid, communication procedures and awareness of emergency procedures. All employees are required to cooperate with these efforts to ensure safe working and to report any concerns to management.

SAFE SYSTEM OF WORK

The Company will develop rules and instructions, if necessary in writing, to cover the following:

Required ability of employees, eg: Professional training / Qualifications and experience / Full knowledge of work planned / Medical fitness
Suitability of equipment, eg Quality of hand/kitchen tools / Adequate level of appropriate personal protective equipment supplied by the company
Task, eg Compliance with all job instructions / Avoidance of non-authorised or non-risk assessed work
Means of communication, eg / Mobile telephone / Remote manual or automatic alarm system / Regular visits by competent person
Provision for treatment of injuries, eg / Portable first aid kit / Availability of first aider/emergency response
Emergency and accident procedures, eg Means of summoning help / Means of raising alarm / Rescue plans and equipment / Fire-fighting equipment
Training, eg for safe use of specialised equipment and processes
Supervision, eg for trainees, young people or new recruits, who must be confirmed as competent to work alone before supervision is reduced to the level of occasional visits.

DEFINED WORKING LIMITS

The Company will establish clear procedures to set limits of what can and what cannot be done while working alone. The general precautionary principle of not carrying out work if in doubt is advocated and employees should contact their supervisor for instruction.

SUMMARY

Working alone can bring additional risks to a work activity. The Company has developed policies and procedures to control the risks and protect employees, and employees should comply with them. Apart from employees being competent in doing the job on their own, the three most important things to be certain of are that:

The lone worker has full knowledge of the potential hazards and risks to which he or she is being exposed
The lone worker knows what the task entails and what to do if something goes wrong
A suitable person knows the whereabouts of a lone worker and what he or she is doing.