Posted By MDH I am currently completing a Lone Working Policy and would be grateful of some assistance with the following: When driving from point "A to B" would the worker be classed as a lone worker? The work we undertake involves people travelling to locations, which on arrival they often work alone. However this driving is sometimes done directly from or to home as apposed to leaving from a central base, therefore as an organisation this is classed as driving as part of their work and not their daily work commute. I have had different views from people within my sector of work and thought it may be good to open it up to this forum. Regards Martin

Posted By Martin J Morley Perhaps not such a large can? Our definition is "those who work by themselves without close or direct supervision." Your explanation suggests that this might be true, especially when they actually start work, so lone working issues could be considered as part of an overall risk assessment of the job role or activity. What does your Road Risk Policy say? Have you considered that some individuals may have medical conditions that make them unsuitable for working alone? martin

Posted By MDH Guys. Many thanks for your responses. The situation is that we have a Road Risk Policy which I have made reference to, I have also mentioned within the policy the requirements to assess the individuals suitability to carry out lone working activities, due to health issues etc, etc, etc. Initially I had a paragraph which read "Whilst driving the individual will not be classed as a lone worker, due to driving activities coming under the Road Traffic Act" or something along those lines however I think I will just remove that statement, as I have since added some guidance into the policy on protecting yourself when parking or returning to your vehicle, especially in hours of darkness and I just think it will confuse matters too much. It does seem to be one of those areas where due to there being a lack of specific advice, on when and where you are a lone worker it leaves a lot open to individual interpretation. As an addition to this discussion, would I be right in saying that the first person into a building in the morning and the last person to leave at night does not constitute lone working, the person is not locking up as we have 24hr security Appreciate your thoughts Martin

Posted By Raymond Rapp Martin As you have rightly identified lone working is a very grey area. In a previous company we had train drivers but they were not considered as lone workers per se. As a safety person I could make good arguments for and against. The ultimate decision is based upon what you can reasonably do to protect them further. Using train drivers as an example, there is little one can do - no driver, no train! Ray

Posted By andymak Whether lone working or not the employer has a duty of care. For example a contact number that the employee calls at the start of their journey, two hours in, or at each planned stop, and at the end of the journey. This allows the employer to ensure their employees are safe during the day, and if one goes 'missing' they have an idea of where they should be during the day, and can back track. Of course any data gained cannot be used for disciplinary means unless a change is made to contracts of employments.