- I always stay in contact with a colleague/supervisor when I work alone
- I am familiar with the agreements about lone working
- Do you have any experience with lone working?
- Can you think of any other measures that can help limit lone working risks?
During this toolbox we devote attention to the topic ‘Lone working’.
Lone working happens more often than you might think. We define lone working as: ‘Performing work beyond the immediate hearing range and/or field of view of colleagues or supervisors.’ In case of danger or an accident you are unable to fall back on colleagues.
Employers are obliged to as much as possible reduce the risks associated with lone working in order to prevent incidents.
According to the Working Conditions Act, employers are responsible for a safe and healthy workplace. This equally applies to lone working. Lone working is not permitted in certain situations.
Under the Health and Safety Decree, lone working is prohibited for the following activities:
- in a room containing a high voltage system
- whose components are not or insufficiently protected against direct/indirect touch/approach
- in a confined space with a danger of suffocation, intoxication, poisoning, fire or explosion.
In its Risk Identification and Evaluation RI&E), an employer must review the risks to which lone workers are exposed and must take suitable measures to mitigate these risks.
The most important risks are as follows:
- Falling from heights
- Live parts
- Moving machine/equipment parts
- Hazardous substances
- Working adjacent to or above water
- Collision hazards
- In its Risk Identification and Evaluation (RI&E), an employer must address the risks to which lone workers are exposed and must take suitable measures to mitigate these risks.
- There must be an instruction programme for lone workers, focused on individual risks and the associated mitigating measures (including the use of personal protective equipment).
- The company emergency response or self-rescue procedure must form part of this programme.
- Repeat this instruction with suitable regularity.
- Persons with relevant patterns of illness, such as epilepsy or who use medicines that affect their capacity to respond, are not permitted to work alone. The use of medicines must be reported to the supervisor.
- Lone workers must also be able to quickly and easily protect themselves against undesirable or aggressive visitors or intruders.
- First, assess whether lone working can be avoided.
- Check where, when and who performs lone work within the company.
- Determine the hazards to which lone workers are exposed.
- Check to see if the hazards are mitigated through means of suitable mitigating measures.
- Also include the items held in any work vans in the RI&E, such as First Aid supplies or accessories for climbing or descending.
- Prepare a checklist for each work element to be checked off by the lone worker prior to the start of the work (LMRA).
- Ensure that supervisors in the company always know when, where and which lone workers are at work.
- Ask supervisors to perform random visits to check on the safety of lone workers and their behaviour.
- Adjust the RI&E if experience with the above-mentioned measures gives cause to do so.
The ‘lone working’ app is now available at geenongevallen.nl. This is a support tool to help you work alone (more) safely. We are not going to increase the level of lone working over and above what it is now. But if you do work alone, the app can be of help when there is an emergency.
Who helps you when you are working alone somewhere and you become unwell? The ‘lone working’ app provides support in such situations.
How does this work?
On the app at geenongevallen.nl (the GO! app), you will see the ‘lone working’ tile. When you click on this tile, you can enter your details and who should be sent a message when you do not respond. If no one responds to an alarm, Heijmans NV Security will be called.
The app asks you to indicate how long you will be working alone before you start the work. 5 minutes before the time is up, you will receive a reminder that the time is almost up. If you do not respond, a call will be placed to the number you have entered. This can be a colleague, supervisor or private individual. If that person does not answer, an alarm will be sent to Heijmans Central Security.
Safely working alone
Heijmans prefers not to have anyone working alone. However, sometimes circumstances may require it. It is important to think about what needs to happen in case of emergency. The ‘lone working’ app is a supporting resource. To truly work safely, we as much as possible aim to prevent having you work alone.
Naturally you report safe and unsafe situations by means of the GO!APP.
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