Exel Contracts Ltd, believes that lone workers should not be at more risk than other employees.
Exel Contracts Ltd also recognises that staff working alone need to rely on their own judgement and initiative and may be at a greater risk of making mistakes or errors.
OUR POLICY:
High risk situations and prohibitions
For normal operations, the risk of lone working may be controlled in accordance with the risk assessment that will be undertaken by the Managing Director or Site Supervisor prior to the commencement of the works. This will further be assessed by IOSH trained administrators who prepare all Risk and Method Statements (RAMS).
In the following circumstances the deployment of lone workers will be prohibited if the operations are deemed to place the individual carrying out the work at too great a risk to be acceptable. These operations are described as follows:
- Any work involving live electrical equipment – (i.e. installation, fault finding, testing, etc).
- Any work involving glazing – (i.e. renewal or replacement of glazed sheeting or panels)
- Any work that is carried out at high level – (i.e. roof work or work using ladders)
- Any work in a property designated as high risk due to previous experience or advice from the customer
All lone working situations will be identified and addressed by the Managing Director / Site Supervisor to ensure that a safe system of work is drawn up and implemented.
The basic premis of the procedure for controlling the risk from lone working is outlined below. (local variations will apply and it is up to the Managing Director to determine the exact extent to which this process is implemented). The following steps must be used as appropriate guidance towards achieving the correct standard of control.
Plan the working patterns carefully to minimise the amount of lone working (where possible)
- Do not plan work that includes any of the prohibited operations if a person is working.
- Ensure all persons undertaking lone work have access to a suitable means of communication (i.e. a mobile phone, and it is fully charged). If a radio is available from security then this should be considered.
- Book in with reception/security for the building, providing a contact number for you and an exact location of where you will be working.
- Where possible confirm the pattern of work (i.e. locations, operations, etc) with the person who is acting as the central point of contact
- Where necessary, highlight any high risk areas for lone working through the risk assessment, and ensure that the assessments are handed and briefed out to the individuals carrying out the work
- When ready to start the work, contact the person acting as the central point of contact and let them know where you are, what you are doing and roughly how long the task will take
- The person acting as the central point of contact should then make a note of this to act as a log of where the lone worker is supposed to be and the timings that they will be working to (methods of recording this information can be set up locally). It is the responsibility of the lone worker to update the person acting as the central point of contact if the work should over-run or they change locations
- Whilst carrying out the works, members of staff must remain vigilant at all times and should maintain an awareness of their surroundings and the people who live, work or visit there. If the situation should change, then the works must be made safe (if it is safe to do so) and the person acting as the central point of contact must be made aware of the situation and should request advice from the Site Supervisor
as to what action to take.
Upon completion of the work, the following action should be taken.
- Contact the person acting as the central point of contact and advise them that the work is fully completed and that you are moving onto the next job
- Review the risk assessment and note anything that may be of interest should any further work need to be carried out at the property.
Emergency situations
If a lone worker fails to call into the central point of contact at the agreed time then it is the responsibility of the person performing this function to escalate the need to check on the lone worker. This can be done by re-directing other members of staff to the last known location of the lone worker to check on their whereabouts.
It will be the responsibility of the person acting as the central point of contact to co-ordinate any emergency response as needed.
The Site Supervisor, Managing Director and the Director must be informed of any emergency escalations, even if there was no further incident to report.
All members of staff carrying out lone working activities must be physically and medically fit.
All lone workers should carry a small first aid kit to deal with any minor incidents to prevent them from worsening, until they can get help. The kits must be carried at all times when carrying out lone working activities. Training in first aid techniques must also be provided.
All injuries sustained by any member of staff carrying out lone working operations must be considered as significant. These must therefore be reported to the person acting as the central point of contact as well as the Director Danniella Wiltshire
Danniella Wiltshire
Director
Date: 08 October 2021
To be reviewed: October 2022
