When additional risks created by lone working weren’t managed
What happened?
The woman was working at a popular fast food outlet managed by a franchisee. She had to go into the walk-in chiller but when she tried to get out she found the internal handle to release the door was not working.
Despite her attempts to open the door the employee remained trapped in the chiller where she remained all night until she was discovered when a colleague opened the store the next morning. Food safety legislation requires that the temperature in the chiller was maintained at or below 5OC. The woman did not suffer any lasting health effects from her ordeal.
Employees interviewed as part of the investigation had stated that the internal handle was damaged and that the franchisee had been informed of the issue but that the handle had not been repaired or replaced until after the incident had occurred.
Legal Outcome
The franchisee was found guilty of failing to comply with section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
What can we learn from what happened?
Clearly the handle should have been repaired or replaced, or as an interim measure, the member of staff should have been aware of the defect, but this is also a good example of lone working.
Lone working can be misunderstood. It is not a hazard, but it is a risk factor that can make it more likely that an accident will occur, or more probably an accident won’t be known about or responded to, as was the case here.
The HSE define lone working as ‘those who work by themselves without close or direct supervision’.
Yes, there are jobs that are classic ‘lone working’ examples, such as drivers, or cleaners when buildings are closed, but lone working can happen at any time in most jobs – you just need to be by yourself, such as the woman trapped in the chiller. It may have been the only time she was by herself during her shift, but for those few minutes (that became a number of hours), she was a lone worker.
The assessment of risk must take this additional factor into consideration, and the context in this case study was that the woman was in a very cold environment. In a bakery, it could have been a very hot environment. Controls to manage exposure to hazards when lone working need to be that much more effective, and this should have included, in this case, a functioning door handle. Systems of communication are also critical, and this will be covered in other case studies.
Source of Information
SHP In-Court