LONE WORKING: A GUIDANCE NOTE FOR MANAGERS
Page 1 of 11 Lone Working: A Ref : HSMS/GUID/010 Guidance Note for Revision: 1 Managers Date: 1st August 2010
Amendment Register
Revision Date Details Amended Approved Number By By 1 1st Change of reference from A P Hards K Jeavons August HSW/CORP/GUID/007 to HSMS. 2010
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1. Introduction
1.1. There are risks associated with all the work that employees carry out, for instance prolonged and/or heavy use of a computer in the office, manual handling of elderly clients, operation of a chainsaw to take branches off a tree. But in addition to the work itself some activities involve risks associated with the fact that the employee is working alone or in an isolated situation. These risks are given the general name of lone working risks.
Lone working risks are those associated with: - possible violence and aggression towards the employee, - accidental injury on land and in premises, - entrapment on land and in premises, - vehicle accident/break-down, - ill-health of the employee.
1.2. The situations in which these risks can arise are many and various and this guidance is intended to help managers and supervisors devise safe systems of work for foreseeable risks where it is reasonably practicable to take action.
1.3. Appendix A is a list of advice and suggestions concerning personal safety (including vehicle breakdown) which managers and supervisors can discuss with employees and include as appropriate in safe systems.
1.4. Managers or supervisors wanting further assistance to put an appropriate system in place can contact the Health and Safety Unit on 569-3807.
2. Legal Requirements
2.1. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations apply to all kinds of work and require employers to assess risks from all activities, identify necessary protective and preventive measures, and make arrangements for putting those measures into practise.
2.2. Health and safety responsibility for employees cannot be transferred to those employees just because they work alone or without close supervision. It is the duty of managers, as the employer’s representative, to organise work, manage the risks associated with
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lone working so far as is reasonably practicable and give employees information, training, instruction and supervision.
3. Risk Assessment
3.1. Identify Lone Working
3.1.1.When carrying out a risk assessment it is important for managers to identify all types of lone working. For instance: - mobile employees, - those making visits from a fixed base, - employees in isolated situations where they are the only person on the premises, - early or late employees who are the first person to arrive or last person to leave premises.
3.1.2.Managers should also be sensitive to special needs which may arise for employees as a result of a medical condition or disability (whether permanent or temporary) and also to the needs of women who may be, or may feel at, greater risk whilst lone working.
3.2. Risk Rating
3.2.1.Going through the process of calculating the risk using the formula likelihood x severity = risk will help identify what action it is reasonably practicable to take and help to ensure attention is focused on higher risks. See the P.79 (Assessment under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations) which gives a numerical system calculating the risk rating.
3.2.2.Managers need to be clear therefore about what the risks being faced by employees are. It may be appropriate to calculate more than one risk rating to differentiate between different activities, times of day etc rather than taking a blanket approach and treating lone working as a standard entity.
4. Control Measures
Control measures for lone working are not necessarily aimed at preventing an incident occurring but at reducing the effects of such an incident.
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4.1. Before the Lone Working Commences
The area where it may be possible to prevent an incident is in the decisions made before the activity starts. This includes the instructions given to employees about when to withdraw.
Managers should ensure that whatever information is available is used to decide on the appropriate controls. Sometimes this maybe on a case-by-case basis. It is also important to keep information in the section (of the experience when carrying out activities or delivering a service) which can be fed into the process for deciding on appropriate controls in future.
In some instances it may be a reasonable decision not to allow lone working in particular cases.
4.2. Communication
Many of the controls for lone working are around effective communications within the work group and beyond it so that incidents come quickly to light and the effects reduced as a result.
4.2.1. Monitoring Sections which include employees who go out on site or to make visits should have some form of system for recording where employees have gone. These systems should be formalised and used more positively with employee safety in mind and may need to be extended to include other types of lone working.
Some information can be kept as a permanent record: - car details including colour and registration, - mobile telephone number, - home telephone number, - next of kin number (if this is different from the home number).
Other information should be left on each occasion the employee goes out: - address(es) to be visited and order if possible, - risk rating of different addresses, - name and telephone number of contacts at the addresses - anticipated return time.
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Responsibility must be given to someone in the group/section to monitor the records left to identify if anyone has failed to return by their estimated time.
Employees going straight home from a visit should telephone to advise when they have finished work and are returning home.
Employees going straight on-site from home at the start of their working day should leave the appropriate information at the end of the previous working day.
Employees should be required to telephone to give updates for the monitoring information if there is any change whilst they are out or they realise they have forgotten to provide information. In some circumstances it may be appropriate to require an employee to telephone in at a certain time to “break-up” a long period of no contact.
NB See also 4.7 Community Alarm concerning a monitoring service offered by Sandwell Homes.
4.2.2. Mobile employees
Monitoring arrangements will still be required for employees who work from home or do not visit their fixed base on a daily basis. Managers need to give careful consideration to how this can reasonably be achieved.
4.2.3. Isolated and Late/Early Employees
Employees alone in a building may be at greater risk from personal accident, intruders or attack whilst unlocking/locking up.
Some monitoring or contact with employees at other premises may be sensible in these circumstances. It may also be appropriate for the employee to have a contact they can telephone in the event of an emergency.
Managers or supervisors with any concerns about the fitness of an employee for these situations can refer that employee to the Occupational Health Unit. Employees in these categories should be encouraged to keep their manager/supervisor aware of their
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general health as some ill-health conditions may make employees unfit for isolated and/or late/early working.
4.3. Radios and Mobile Telephones
Radios and mobile telephones are useful communication tools and can make contact easy and practical. However careful thought needs to be given to the role of the mobile telephone in the overall control system. Systems which rely on the employee to use the radio or mobile telephone to call for help if they need it will fail if the employee is knocked unconscious, has the radio/mobile telephone taken from them etc.
4.4. General Precautions
4.4.1. Employees should carry an identification card with them.
4.4.2.Managers should consider issuing personal attack alarms for some activities/situations or if employees would feel more secure carrying one.
4.4.3. Cash handling for lone working should be kept to an absolute minimum and preferably out of sight of the public. A maximum amount for cash boxes should be agreed before transfer to a safe, being paid in to Cashiers etc.
4.5. Monitoring Support
Some general plan will be required of what to do in the event that someone is missing.
How soon action will be taken may depend upon the actual risk rating of the situation the employee has gone into. A sensible first step in any plan would be to ring the employee’s mobile telephone (or home telephone if they may have gone home).
The plan should outline who is to be informed and what checks will be carried out. The plan could include the circumstances in which a search might be carried out and the arrangements for it.
The plan must not be merely to inform the police; the police will expect some reasonable level of action to have been taken to find the
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employee and/or some foundation for thinking the employee has come to harm.
4.6. Evening, Weekend, Night and Call-Out Work
Evening, weekend, night and call-out work will still require monitoring of lone working at these times. This may be set-up with a duty or on-call centre or may be with an officer at home.
4.7. Community Alarm
The Community Alarm Service is part of Sandwell Homes and operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. As part of their service they have software which monitors the lone working of the wardens. This monitoring service can be purchased by sections of the Council. The software alerts the Community Alarm operators if an employee registered with the service fails to make a monitoring call.
Community Alarm will do the monitoring but the section buying the service must provide a contact to take over responsibility should there be an alert. However, if this is the service agreed, Community Alarm will try to contact the employee when they receive an alert before handing the incident over to the contact.
Sections interested in buying the Community Alarm Service should contact the Manager, Beverley Abberley, on 0121-525-4290.
5. Employee Information, Instruction and Training
Employees must be given information, instruction and training regarding lone working appropriate to their role and the results of the risk assessment.
5.1. Information might include: - the results of the risk assessment(s), - details of the lone working system being operated, - who to contact in the event of an emergency, - what to do in the event of a vehicle breakdown, - details of an office operational at the relevant time, - the location of first-aid facilities, - the location of the nearest hospital with an accidents and emergencies department,
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- the telephone number of the local police station.
5.2. Instruction might include: - circumstances in which to withdraw/cease work and refer back for further instruction.
5.3. Training might include: - personal safety training, - dealing with violence and aggression training.
6. Reporting of Incidents
Employees should be reporting all incidents (accidents, near misses, violence and aggression) already but they should particularly be encouraged to report all incidents which occur whilst they are lone working. This information can be used to review risk assessment(s) and ensure that control measures remain relevant.
Incidents should be reported using the Corporate Incident Report Form SHW012.
Managers should also consider whether it is appropriate to report any particular incident to the police.
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APPENDIX A
Personal Safety
Advice can be given to employees as follows:
be aware of who is around, be suspicious, keep an eye on recessed doorways, try not to use narrow roads or alleys, walk along lit routes, don’t take short cuts through darker areas, be aware of parked cars with someone sitting inside, try to stay near groups of people, keep valuables (jewellery, purse, wallet, mobile ‘phone) out of sight, consider keeping these in pockets rather than in a handbag, wear a shoulder bag across the chest, consider using a bum-bag, carry a personal alarm readily to hand, if unlocking a building have the keys ready before arriving at the door .
Vehicle Safety
Advice can be given to employees as follows:
don’t park in dark, isolated areas, reverse into car parking spaces to allow an easier exit, have keys ready when approaching your car and get in quickly, lock yourself into the vehicle until driving away, keep equipment out of sight in the boot both when driving and when parked, if someone runs into the back of you, take your keys with you when you get out to have a look.
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Vehicle Breakdown
Advice can be given to employees as follows:
park on the hard shoulder or as far off the highway as possible, put on hazard warning lights, call for assistance or go to find a telephone, lone females should advise this when calling for assistance, be aware of traffic when leaving the vehicle, use the passenger door to leave/enter the vehicle to avoid moving traffic, lock the car, if possible wear something bright, do not walk on the highway, arrows on motorways indicate the direction of the nearest telephone, motorway telephones automatically connect to the police and log the location of the telephone, on motorways remain clear of your vehicle until assistance arrives, on motorways lone females are advised to leave the passenger door open whilst waiting and should be prepared to lock themselves in if someone other than the emergency or vehicle rescue services stops.
Mobile ‘Phone Safety
Advice can be given to employees as follows:
keep a mobile ‘phone out of sight (including in a vehicle), don’t leave your mobile ‘phone in an unattended car, don’t use a mobile ‘phone in the street if possible, use the mobile ‘phone lock facility, keep a record of your electronic serial number (ESN). This can be obtained by keying *#06# into your mobile phone, report the theft of your mobile ‘phone as soon as possible to the provider, police and your manager.
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