Rank: Forum user 
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Can anyone tell me if there is a minimum time for someone to be classed as a lone worker?
We have an employee who for 2 hrs/day works a machine in a building alone. The building is 200 meters from the main workshop and for the rest of the day he works there.
The machine safety has been assessed and is PUWER compliant.
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Rank: Super forum user
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There's not time threshold, bibman. It's all based on the risk; hazards associated with machine/workplace, health conditions the individual may suffer from etc.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Agree with safetyamateur. Therefore it could be argued that for 2 hrs a day the operative is a 'lone worker' per se.
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Rank: Forum user
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Frm the info you have provided, I would class him as a lone worker
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Rank: Forum user 
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Bibman - Is there any reason that he has to be defined as a 'lone worker'?
IMO trying to define who is and isn't a lone worker can be a bit of a red herring - a risk assessment covers work actvities and if the assessment identifies that you need some type of controls in place to ensure he is OK when working at machine then so be it - the duty of care still applies whether anyone is defined as a 'lone worker' or not, so I wouldn't be getting too hung up on definitions.
Regards
FH
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Rank: Forum user
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Hi,
Agree with above – the risk assessment should tell you whether the work can be done safely by someone working on their own and what arrangements are needed to ensure the lone worker is at no more risk than other employees doing that job. Arrangements might involve, regular contact with other employees/manager, reporting in to security every so often, log in/out system, buddy system, alarm system etc.
Regards
Steve
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Rank: New forum user
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Bibman
gone are the days i remeber being down the mine in a old heading on my own for hours just watching the standage fill with sludge and no checks, best thing be safe rather than sorry do the neccessary assessment follow the loneworker procedures and everyone will benefit mate
regards
david
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Rank: Forum user
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Would agree with Fornhelper above. The RA carried out on the type of machine working with will go a long way to defining if he is a lone worker. We tend to designate anyone who is working alone with any type of cut off machinery as lone workers.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Rank: Super forum user
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A lone worker is identified by number of different criterion and one of those is working unsupervised. Therefore I'm not sure we have to go down the road of risk assessments in this particular case. You are either identified as a lone worker or not, but also you are only a lone worker per se if practical controls can identified and implemented.
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