QUESTION OF THE WEEK – What are the rules on lone working in factory environments such as our workshop?

BWF members such as yourselves frequently use our Member and Technical Helplines for assistance on a wide range of Employment, Health and Safety, Pay and Technical issues. We’re putting up a frequently asked question every Tuesday in order to help members and illustrate the type of advice we are able to provide. If you have any questions that you would like to see featured, we would be happy to assist. This question and many others like it can be found in our Question Centre. If you want further advice on any of the issues, don’t hesitate to ring the helpline or browse our extensive publications library, which includes our Machine Safety Cards, Health and Safety Policy Statements, and guidance notes on preparing a risk assessment. This week: What are the rules on lone working in factory environments such as our workshop? For small and medium sized businesses, it will occasionally be the case that individuals are required to work alone, either before or after normal working hours, or on certain projects. Although there is no general legal prohibition on working alone, the broad duties of the Health and Safety at Work (HSW) Act and Management of Health and Safety at Work (MHSW) Regulations still apply. The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974: Section 2 sets out a duty of care on employers to ensure the health, safety and welfare of their employees whilst they are at work.
The Management of Health and Safety at work Regulations 1999: Regulation 3 states that every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of

• the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work; and
• the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking

It should be born in mind that when a risk assessment shows it is not possible for the work to be conducted safely by a lone worker, you need to address that risk by, for example, making arrangements to provide help or back-up should there be a problem. In this case could you fit some sort of alarm / warning system in the other unit which could be activated in an emergency or, a system of regular walk-by / by someone else to check on the individual concerned. The following extract from this HSE leaflet covers it in a little more detail:

• Procedures must be put in place to monitor lone workers to help keep them healthy and safe. These may include:
• supervisors periodically visiting and observing people working alone;
• regular contact between the lone worker and supervisor, using either mobile phones, telephones, radios or e-mail, bearing in mind the worker’s understanding of English;
• automatic warning devices which operate if specific signals are not received periodically from the lone worker, e.g. staff security systems;
• other devices designed to raise the alarm in an emergency, these can be operated manually or automatically by the absence of activity;
• checks to ensure a lone worker has returned to their base or home once their task is completed.

Supervisors can also provide guidance in situations where there is uncertainty. Supervision of health and safety can often be carried out when checking the progress and quality of the work. This may take the form of periodic site visits combined with discussions in which health and safety issues are raised.