Trinity Rawdon recognises there are legal and Christian responsibilities relating to working alone on Church premises and wishes to demonstrate the highest standard of care for people as a practical outworking of faith.

At times Trinity Rawdon employees will be in situations where they are a ‘lone worker’. The recommendations below try to be realistic about what can and cannot be put in place. Whilst it must be recognised that the Church, as an employer, does not have the structure associated with a large business, it aims is to be a good employer who is concerned about the safety of its employees.

Many volunteers use both Church premises and their own home and so it is equally important to have a system in place to account for their safety.

This Lone Working Policy outlines the actions being taken by Trinity Rawdon in relation to our employees, volunteers and visitors who may at any time work alone on Church activity, together with the actions we expect such workers and volunteers to take themselves in order to minimise risks.

Lone working is part of the essential practice for many Church workers and may take place on Church property,  in worker or volunteers own homes or in others’ homes.  Situations cannot always be avoided but Trinity Rawdon recognises the risks and seeks to minimise them by common sense and appropriate measures and advice which are the responsibility of all concerned.

The purpose of this document is to highlight risk and detail safe lone working guidance in order to minimise the dangers.

This policy applies to all Trinity Rawdon members, volunteers and employees.

LONE WORKER DEFINITION

A lone worker is defined as, ‘anyone whose work includes a large portion of their time in situations where there is no close, frequent or regular involvement with other workers’.

LONE WORKING POLICY

Lone working within Trinity is the responsibility of Trinity Rawdon Leadership Team and anyone in a Lone Working situation.  The Leadership Team commit to carrying out their responsibilities in a thorough and disciplined way.

It is a condition of employment that employees will abide by this policy and that failure to do so can result in disciplinary proceedings.

Wherever possible lone working should be avoided.  This Policy should be used alongside the following governance to ensure a rounded approach to safety:

• Trinity Safeguarding Policy
• Health and Safety at Work, including:
  • fire
  • ill health
  • how to exit buildings
  • intruder procedures
  • key telephone numbers (public and Trinity Rawdon) to phone in the event of an emergency
  • All first aid kits must be clearly sign posted
• A risk assessment process
• Hire agreements

No person under the age of 18 or who themselves is classified as a vulnerable person may undertake lone working.

No person with a known physical, mental or emotional health condition, particularly one which could lead to a sudden collapse or inability to manage routine exit procedures, should be allowed to engage in lone working.

People should not undertake repairs in a building if they are alone, or if nobody else knows that they are in the building. This is especially important if the task involves lifting, ladders, working at height or with dangerous substances and electrical appliances.

WHO WORKS ALONE?

Lone workers may include those who: 

• work away from an office base (e.g. visiting)
• work outside normal working hours  (e.g. cleaners)
• are the only person on the premises (e.g. administrator; caretaker, volunteer)
• work in the same building as colleagues but in a space on their own (e.g. Minister)
• Youth worker alone with one  or  more  teenagers  whether  in  a  public  place,  in  a  school or on private  property
• anyone working on maintenance or in the Church grounds
• a volunteer taking cash to the bank
• employees (including  Minister) who work from home alone
• employees travelling by car or public transport on their own in the course of their work

THE RISKS

A risk assessment should be undertaken of:

• the working practices for a lone worker
• the working environment provided by Trinity Rawdon for an employee

 

Risks  to be assessed include  the  following:

• physical  accident  (from  injury,  fire,  etc.  such as  when using  kitchen or  maintenance equipment  when there  is  no  one  available  to  fetch  help  if  necessary)
• sudden  illness, when there  is  no  one  to  raise  the  alarm
• physical  or verbal violence  or  threat  of  abuse  in  any  form  from  a  visitor;
• sexual  behaviour  or  advances  deemed  to  be  inappropriate  or  threatening
• accusations  by  a  visitor  of  inappropriate  behaviour  by  staff/volunteers  when  there  are  no witnesses
• stress caused by working in isolation or  from  abusive  phone  calls  or  digital  media
• remoteness of the work place
• potential communication problem
• whether or not all the plant, equipment, materials etc can be handled safely by one person
• medical fitness to work alone
• how the lone worker will be supervised
• how to obtain help in an emergency such as assault, vehicle breakdown, accident or fire
• adequate first aid cover

Danger may be increased when:

• working outside normal hours
• when it is dark   
• when locking up a church building
• English is not the first language of those involved

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE LEADERSHIP TEAM

• To assess the ‘reasonably foreseeable risks’
• To raise awareness of foreseeable risks
• To stop the work or activity where the risk is deemed unacceptable. Where the work must be carried out another person must be present
• To ensure that a system is in place for calling for help if there is a problem on the premises.
• To keep on file the employee and their next-of-kin contact phone numbers
• To keep records of any health issues that may affect the employee whilst working alone.
• To ensure that a system is in place so that the employer knows that an employee is safe when working on their own either on or off the premises. (E.g. via phone calls and location visits)
• To provide employees making home visits a mobile phone or reimbursement of costs incurred for work-related calls
• To ensure that the employee receives a Health and Safety Induction and that the Certificate of Employers Liability is displayed
• Check that insurance cover adequately covers the work to be undertaken
• Ensure an accident book is kept up to date
• To learn from previous situations and take appropriate action to avoid this in future

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE EMPLOYEE OR VOLUNTEER

• To take reasonable care for your own safety and how this might affect others
• To be aware of and make an assessment of potential risks before embarking on an activity
• To seek help or guidance from a manager or other responsible person if unsure of or uncomfortable with the risks
• To ensure another person is present where a task ‘must’ be performed but the risk assessment determines the task is unsafe
• To arrange to meet unknown individuals in a public place and preferably with another person presentor  attempt to work in pairs
• To advise a designated person of the date and the times of starting and finishing lone working. On completion of the activity he/she should send a message to that person by text or phone call on leaving the building. If the designated person has not heard from the lone worker within 30 minutes of the anticipated leaving time, they must initiate contact with the lone worker and, if unable to make contact, must advise the Minister or another  member of the Leadership Team.
• To know of, and have clear access to, exit routes being vigilant and taking note of what is going on around you
• To report any issues or incidents of violence or aggressive behaviour on the incident form
• If making a home visit, to make sure that someone knows where you are going and when you hope to be back.  
• To carefully consider the risks and impact of using social media on you and family members, in particular posts of your location away from home (conference, camp), prayer requests
• To learn from previous situations and take appropriate action to avoid this in future

Trinity Rawdon Leadership Team are responsible for this Policy.  Anyone carrying out Lone Working within Trinity premises is responsible for following this Policy and procedures.

This policy forms one part of our Safeguarding Policies and our current insurance policies and risk assessments.  This document will be reviewed and updated as appropriate to changes to the risk environment. Changes will be made available.   If you suspect any area of concern with the lone worker process please report it to the Minister or a member of the Leadership Team.

Approval and Version Control

Status: Approved

By: Trinity Church Leadership Team

Signed:  

P Lambert Trinity Rawdon Administrator

Version Review Date: 28.10.24