With regard to the safety of lone workers, the legislation in force does not provide for particular specifications, other than the prohibition of lone work in situations where the level of risk is unacceptable (work on stairs, obligation to be an assistant on the ground, work in confined spaces), which are subject to specific legislation. Therefore, to guarantee the safety of the worker working alone, the legislative decree always applies. no. 81/2008.
However, precisely this provision provides – in article 17, paragraph 1, letter a) – that the employer must carry out the risk assessment on the basis of the principle of “all-inclusiveness”. He must therefore analyze his own organization and identify, with respect to it, “all” the risks to the health and safety of workers, including those deriving from particular working conditions, such as those of lone workers.
Following this assessment, the Employer must adopt the necessary prevention and protection measures and the related procedures to eliminate or reduce the consequences of the risks identified.
By definition, “lone workers” are people who carry out their work alone, without direct supervision and without the possibility of alerting other nearby subjects with direct visual or vocal contact in the event of an injury or accident.
It is therefore undeniable that this operating method significantly affects the Risk Assessment (VdR). To ensure the safety of the isolated operator, in managing the VdR the employer should therefore:
1. Evaluate the risk arising from operational loneliness in addition to the other risk factors of the activity under consideration. In this it should be considered that isolation typically involves as additional risk factors increased levels of difficulty in:
- alert the emergency services by the worker
- access to the place of activity by the emergency services
- quickly identify the exact place where the operator in difficulty is
2. Evaluate the environmental risks of the environment in which the activity takes place
3. Evaluate the psychological effects that loneliness entails on the subjective perception of risk;
4. Verify the suitability of facilities and equipment, as well as the easy accessibility of all relevant manuals by the worker
5. Make sure the worker has a medication pack;
6. Check with the competent doctor the suitability of the worker to work alone;
7. Verify that the worker is adequately trained and knows the procedures to be respected, with particular attention to the correct use of PPE, which must also include tools aimed at reducing the risks associated with the “loneliness” factor.
8. Give the operator adequate training and specific information.
