Hi I have seen the guidance for lone working from the HSE but I can't find a true definition to what lone working actually is, for instance if I am at my desk typing away in my office out of site but there are other people in the building is that an example of lone working?

I can't write a procedure on the matter without a true definition.

Also I see that some companies have automatic warning devices which activate when they go horizontal for more than 20 seconds but these require someone to monitor them like a security hut which our company doesn't have, is sufficient enough to have something in place where the lone worker has to check in with another member of staff at a set frequency or are their purpose built boards where they can sign in etc....

Risk based their are no activities that on their own could render a person unconcious, no machinery they can get their hands stuck in, the only thing that could happen is if they had an underlying medical condition or slipped over and banged their head

You may find the attached interesting to read, especially the bit about lone workers in offices.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/ab...hive/2006/040106/b03.pdf

As for a finite definition....well (IMO), thats up to your CEO/MD to define with your guidance.

Business Link has a definition... http://www.businesslink....27343&type=RESOURCES

Leeds University has a good template on lone working... http://www.leeds.ac.uk/s...isk_assessment_guide.pdf

I concur with Clairel’s advice, including the need to avoid getting bogged down with definitions. In addition to occupations which readily spring to mind as involving people working on their own in remote places, there are many others which entail occasional or regular lone working. For example, teachers tend to work on their own in school classrooms after their pupils leave each day. If their school buildings are reasonably secure against unauthorised entry, are such employees at significant risk? Probably not, unless they like taking chances with unsafe methods for affixing displays at height on walls. Also many headteachers and caretakers tend to remain working on their own in schools long after other employees have left each day/evening. Again, they’re probably not at significant risk until it’s time for them to leave their buildings. Therefore, for each school, the elements of leaving, locking up, accessing cars and driving/walking off sites especially those which are remote or not overlooked by neighbours need to be assessed so that appropriate measures can be considered. One simple but effective measure where two employees are working late is for them to pre-arrange to leave at the same time. If they’re using cars, each should ensure that the other can start their car and actually drive off site.

p.s. On a totally whimsical and hypothetical note, it’s possible that older forum users with memories of TV from the 1950s/early 1960s might wonder if anyone was inspired to do a risk assessment for the “Lone Ranger” bearing in mind the big clue from his title/nickname. Perhaps that’s why Tonto the Indian scout worked with him so as to minimise his lone working! :-)

How many people nowadays actual work under direct supervision, in the sense that someone is there looking over you and making sure you are doing it right. I think that went out with cotton mills and rickets. Most people are given a task to do and sent away to do it. Does that count as lone working?

To add to those comments already made. There is lone working, and there is lone working, so be careful not to try comparing apples with pears but concentrate on each of your risks in turn. I don’t see that you need to get ‘bogged down’ too much in trying to find a ‘definitive definition’ (if that makes sense?) in order to be able to understand and consider the risks and then design and implement any necessary controls including if necessary, a procedure. Keep it simple.

Thanks Kate for highliting that, it was my own interpretation from my Latin phrase book and was intended to be tongue in cheek...I'm not planning to give up the day job!

In response to Graham's post (one of his shorter ones) when I was working on the DLR the Passenger Service Agents on the trains were not identified as lone worker's per se, which I though strange because to all intent and purpose they fulfilled the criterion of a lone worker. Sometimes it was not a nice job as they were often subjected to insults and even physical violence as well as having to deal with other anti-social behaviour.

During my early years with a local authority my OS&H boss was asked if there was any law against crematorium staff working on their own. This stemmed from the apparent fact that it was and perhaps remains either a legal requirement or nationally agreed practice for all bodies received at each UK crematorium to be cremated as soon as practicable after receipt and not kept overnight for cremation next day. Therefore, during the winter months when there is a reportedly greater incidence of elderly people dying from respiratory disease, there is a greater likelihood that crematoria workers need to work longer hours, sometimes into the evenings. Though it's preferable to have two employees working together, there are times when lone working is unavoidable. My boss's response to the query was that there was no specific law against lone working in crematoria. Furthermore, though some employees might find it spooky to be working alone, there were no OS&H grounds against it. As I found a few years later when I shadowed my employer's crem staff, most of their work consists of monitoring the cremators and the progress of each cremation. The use of height-adjustable proprietary trolleys for moving coffins and loading them into the cremators minimises the need for manual handling.

p.s. Perhaps my boss suggested that lone crem workers might be afforded some psychological 'company' by being allowed to use radios or cassette tape players after all the funeral services had been held each day. If so, I'd recommend brass band music as suitably uplifting. Furthermore, some brass band enthusiasts might suggest "Blaze Away!" (by Abe Holzmann) as a tune with a particularly appropriate title! Has anyone got any other suggestions? :-)