Working alone

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From a lawyer's view point if you have not carried out the detailed risk assessment and recorded it you are in breach of Health and Safety requirement and possibly liable to
prosecution.

This may only come to light if there is an accident and there is then an investigation or when an employee decides to sue for damages.

Much of this is purely commonsense, but having identified the fact that a person working on their own is at greater risk, then a strategy needs to be in place to minimise or
at least to reduce the consequences of that risk.

If it cannot be avoided that a person has to work alone, then it seems that the minimum that is needed is either for there to be in place some system of regular checks or an ability to communicate quickly. Without this, the required /Employer's Liability Insurance may be void.

It is a fact that there are more work-related accidents amongst farm workers than in any other industry. This is because often people are working alone and with powerful
machinery. Machinery is usually predictable, animals are often not.

Not all risks in life can be excluded, but from a legal position, failure to carry out risk assessments and to put in place appropriate prevention measures
can prove costly both in time and money, never mind the life devastating consequences that can be suffered.