I am asking for your opinion on a matter that has been raised, I work in a facility that incorporates offices but also workshops that consist of lathes,Bandsaws and milling machines etc. Normally there are potentially 4 people that work in the workshop but because 2 of the guys have been suspended for something nothing to do with work safety there are now only 2 and 1 of which is a supervisor who is very rarely in the workshop. There was a discussion last week when I asked what was the lone working arrangements but I was told it was not lone working because there were people in the offices, although there are doors, walls,corridors that separate the workshop and offices ,What do you all think, is it lone working or not ? My view is it is especially since there is potentially machines in there that can cause serious injuries and communication in the event of an emergency from the workshop to the offices would be difficult if not impossible

I agree with Kate 100% - advised a company a few years ago where a maintenance chap had fallen in a boiler house and been stuck with a broken ankle for 6 hours before he was missed - very old mill building access by steal enclosed vertical ladder so could not even crawl out. There were over 500 people working on the premises and up to that point they had no lone worker procedures. They do now for lots of maintenance activities.

Hi Smart Best to read and apply the guidance in the HSE leaflet on Lone working. This will help you assess the risks and make a decision based upon HSE advice. Here is the link. http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg73.pdf Ian