Lone Working

1. Legislation

A lone worker can be defined as someone who works by themselves without direct supervision. Residential child care is an area of work where a large proportion of the team work alone both out in the community and in the building. No member of staff should work in a one to one situation with a child until they have been approved by a manager as having sufficient prior training/experience.

The following legislation needs to be considered whilst Lone Working:

2. Risk Assessment

Any potential risks associated with lone working can usually be minimised through risk assessments, relevant training, the provision of information and supervision with managers. Risk assessments should consider all aspects of lone working, such as: direct 1-1 working with children, lone working with or without children in the building or community.

Prior to lone working, a risk assessment must be carried out and the team must liaise with their colleagues on duty about risks that may be apparent. In cases of emergency a dynamic risk assessment is acceptable.

No member of staff in the home will be asked or expected to work with a child in a one to one situation, until a risk assessment has been carried out in relation to the child. The risk assessment should be regularly reviewed and updated as required.

The risk assessment will consider the safe working measures, controls, training and supervision requirements necessary to ensure the safety of staff working alone both with or without a child.

All staff in the home are responsible for familiarising themselves with the contents of the risk assessments, noting any conditions attached, and any other relevant information contained on the child's file.

Team members who could be considered at greater risk when lone working could be new and expectant mothers, individuals who may be medically unfit to work alone and new staff undertaking induction.

Hazardous activity should be avoided when possible when lone working.

The manager must ensure that arrangements are in place to manage any risks presented to staff.

Factors to consider:

The knowledge of a medical condition the staff member may have;
The time of day or night;
Methods of communication;
The location of the work and if travel is involved;
The risk of violence to staff (verbal and physical);
Whether inexperienced staff are particularly at risk?
Whether there are any gender issues such as female staff or expectant mothers being particularly at risk?
Has adequate training been provided to ensure the safety of both staff and children in the home?

Where the risk assessment indicates that a member of staff is likely to be at risk in a given situation, the manager will ensure that a contingency plan is in place should the situation occur, for example by the provision of additional support staff.

If the member of staff has any concerns about their own safety, or the safety of the child or others, they must draw this to the immediate attention of the manager who will consider the need for an urgent review of the risk assessment. Any such concerns will be communicated as necessary to all members of staff working with the child. For example during contact with parents/adults, staff may feel threatened by the parent's/adult's behaviour.

If the manager has any reason to consider, having regard to any incidents, reports, or events that a child presents a risk to staff, or that an individual member of staff is particularly at risk from a child or may be vulnerable when working in a one to one situation, the manager must take immediate steps to review the deployment of staff. The manager will consider if further training is needed.

3. Supervision

See Staff Supervision and Support Procedure.

The ongoing implementation of the Lone Working Policy will monitored through the supervision process. Individual staff members have the responsibility of discussing any concerns they may have in respect of lone working with their manager and utilise supervision to consider any appropriate additional support or training. Lone working and risk assessment will be regular agenda items for team meetings. Team have a responsibility to inform their line manager if they have any concerns over the effectiveness and efficiency of any agreed arrangements and also if there are any reasons why they would not be able to work alone or to continue to work alone in safety. Any member of staff with a concern regarding these issues should ensure that it is discussed with their line manager or with the whole team, as appropriate.

4. Monitoring

The manager must monitor the risk assessment through the regular reading of the child's file, regular supervision with members of staff engaged in lone working, discussion at staff meetings, regular consultation with the young person via Key Worker meetings (see Key Worker Guidance) and Placement Planning Meetings.

As indicated above in (Section 2, Risk Assessment) where the manager has any concerns that a child presents a risk to lone workers, either in general or to an individual member of staff, the manager must take immediate steps to review the risk assessment and if necessary review the composition or deployment of the staff team, and/or the training needs of the individual member of staff.

Any member of staff who has any concerns must report them to the manager so that he or she can take any necessary action.

The policy will be reviewed as part of the annual quality assurance process or after an incident occurring.

5. Guidance on One to One Working

Please read in conjunction with:

Staff should view spending time alone with children as an opportunity to develop positive relationships with the young people in our care.

Staff are asked to pay particular attention to the following areas of risk:

Special relationships: It is beneficial for children to be involved in positive relationships with responsible adults, however exclusiveness and secrecy are never appropriate and should be challenged;
Taking children home: This is not allowed under any circumstances;
Physical care: There are clear guidelines about appropriate privacy boundaries. Young people should be encouraged to undertake personal care and hygiene activities for themselves as soon as appropriate for their age;
Access to bedrooms: Staff should be mindful of young people's need for privacy, and the need to avoid situations which could give rise to discomfort or misinterpretation. It is not usually appropriate for any member of staff to be alone with a young person in their bedroom, with the door closed. Also see Bedrooms Procedure;
Trips and outings: These should be dispersed among the staff group and subject to collective management approval.

Where only one member of staff is on duty at any time, a risk assessment should be carried out and recorded in writing, identifying any likely risks to children, staff and members of the public, and this must have demonstrated that there is no acceptable level of risk from such an arrangement.

Children should always have a member of staff responsible for them, and know who that member of staff is and how to contact them. There is always at least one member of staff responsible for each identifiable group of children, within or outside the home, with the means to call for immediate back up from at least one other member of staff or the On Call Service if necessary.

6. Communication System

All staff members should have access to a mobile phone whilst making any visit or activity outside of the children's home. Staff should inform colleagues on Duty of their current mobile phone number and of any changes to this thereafter. A register of all team members contact details will be maintained in the office and accessible by all of the team. The buddy system should be used when lone working out of hours. A detailed message should be given to the staff on duty of any lone working activities within the home both verbally and by recording in the logbook. Any work with a young person whose risk assessment highlights specific concerns e.g. allegations, aggression, should be carried out with two staff members.

The team will routinely use the communication board system in the office. This is located in the Main Office indicating appointments and staff members' presence in the building. The message should indicate the time of the appointment, the location of the appointment or the reason for leaving the building and an approximate return time. They should also indicate to their colleagues on duty this information and for it to be recorded in the daily log book. Intention to return to the home or not should also be indicated. In addition the team must record any activities outside of the home in the daily log book – stating where they are going, and planned time of return; if there are any changes to the plans whilst out, team must ring the service and inform them of the changes and they will update the daily log book. All staff members must make their electronic calendars accessible to the whole team and kept up to date. Effective use of team meetings and daily change over meetings should be made. Team meetings and daily change over meetings need to assist in the planning of any activities where it will involve a team member working alone to ensure any potential risks are minimised.

7. Environment

There must be access to a telephone and first aid equipment for staff members working alone.

If there is any indication that a building has been broken into, a staff member must not enter the building alone, but must wait for back-up support from the emergency services.

In buildings where staff may be working with people in relative isolation, there should be an agreed system in place to alert colleagues in an emergency. The team should make themselves aware of what safety measures are in place within the building: check out alarm systems and procedures, exits and entrances, and the location of the first aid supplies.

If the team are in a situation where a young person or member of the public becomes violent or aggressive when in a lone working situation they should go to a safe place preferably the office and lock themselves in and call their colleagues and if need be the police.

Staff members who are left alone in a situation of an emergency for example, a young person going to hospital through the night should contact the out of hours team to make them aware of the situation along with their manager who may advise other team be brought in to support depending on circumstances. The team should follow other procedures within this Guidance.

Staff lone working in the evening will inform identified staff member on duty when they have left the building at the end of their shift.

8. Community

Where it is not possible to conduct an appointment with someone who may potentially pose a risk in the children's home, two team members must be in attendance. Both staff members must be aware of potential risks and discuss appropriate safeguarding strategies prior to the visit.

When children's home staff are undertaking visits in the community, they should be wary of any changes in behaviour of the person being visited or others present. They should try to keep calm and distance themselves from any angry or aggressive person. Staff members should not meet aggression with aggression. They should try to stay calm and defuse the situation.

9. Family Home

When making appointments outside of the family home with young people/families, or people who potentially pose a risk, every effort should be made to conduct such a meeting within the children's home or another council building.

If a staff member feels uncomfortable in any way in a family home, they should remove themselves from the house as soon as possible, making an excuse such as having to get some paperwork or equipment from the car. They should then phone for advice or help. If they do not want to go back into the house, they should call the person visited on the phone, if they feel safe to do so, to say they have been called back to the office urgently. Future visits would then need to be planned using agreed safety precautions.

Staff should be mindful of their own personal safety and not do anything that will jeopardise this. They should take into an address only that which is needed for the visit. Excess baggage may disrupt any means of escape or be vulnerable to theft.

10. Transport

Staff should take particular care if transporting people in their own cars such as asking the young person to travel in the back of the car on the left hand side, locking doors, using child locks and ensuring if possible windows are closed. Staff should take all reasonable precautions when working alone. Reasonable precautions might include: checking directions for the destination you are travelling to, checking whether a person is known to present a risk and the agreed plan for working with them, ensuring your car, if used, is road-worthy and has break-down cover. Staff members should take care when entering or leaving buildings, especially at night, avoiding where possible, poorly lit or deserted areas. Phoning in on time, reporting areas of concern to their safety and attending team training are essential.

If staff travel on public transport in the course of work, they should be aware of their surroundings and risks to their personal safety during the journey. If they notice aggressive behaviour they should remove themselves from the vicinity. Staff members should make themselves aware of timetables for transport departure and arrival times. They should be mindful of paying for bus fares and the risk of robbery. Having the correct change ready will help.