Health and Safety - Lone & Out of Hours Working
Lone & Out of Hours Working
Out of hours covers weekends and official holidays as well as outside normal working hours (07.30 -19.00 Monday to Friday).
- Anyone working in the Materials and Analytical Sciences (MAS) building outside of normal working hours must sign in and out using the book provided in the lobby area of the main ground floor entrance.
Lone working is defined as working where you cannot easily and quickly be heard or seen in the event of an accident. Lone-working in laboratories and workshops should be avoided wherever possible.
Lone and out-of-hours office working is a reality. Ensure you have suitable plans in place to let people know you are working alone, especially if there are underlying medical conditions.
In high hazard areas such as laboratories and workshops, risk assessments of activities should take specific account of the possibility of lone or out of hours working. Where lone working is a possibility, the risk assessment should consider the following where appropriate:
- Loss of electrical power or other services;
- Consideration of foreseeable emergencies, including how to contact support;
- First aid provision;
- The hazards associated with the task;
- Is the person medically fit and suitable to work alone?
- Is the person suitably competent to handle the task?
- What can be done safely whilst working alone?
- Are there additional hazards when accessing the workplace at the proposed times?
In any high hazard area:
- Undergraduates must never work alone
- Postgraduates may not work alone unless they have prepared a lone working risk assessment together with their supervisor.
- Staff can only work alone if a lone working risk assessment has been done.