Lone Working and Holiday Cover: A Practical Summer Check

Summer brings a familiar challenge for many businesses: several people wanting annual leave at the same time and a rota that needs to flex.

Most of the time, this is managed without a problem. However, reduced staffing can sometimes create an unexpected gap.

Your appointed person may be away. The trained people identified in your fire-safety arrangements may be unavailable. Someone may be opening, closing or working alone for the first time.

These situations are rarely caused by carelessness. They usually happen because leave is approved one request at a time without anyone checking the overall effect.

What does lone working mean?

A lone worker is someone who works by themselves without close or direct supervision.

This could include someone:

  • working alone in an office;

  • opening or closing the premises;

  • working outside normal hours;

  • travelling for work;

  • working from home.

Reduced summer staffing may create lone-working situations that do not normally arise, so it is worth checking whether your existing risk assessment and emergency arrangements still work.

Your five-minute summer cover check

✅ Do your first-aid arrangements remain adequate during planned absences?

✅ Are enough trained people available to carry out the fire-safety roles identified in your emergency plan?

✅ Could reduced staffing leave anyone working without close or direct supervision?

✅ Are contact, check-in and emergency arrangements clear?

✅ Are opening and closing arrangements safe?

✅ Has anyone taking on unfamiliar responsibilities received suitable information or training?

There is no need to panic, but there is a need to plan.

What should you do next?

A short review before approving annual leave can help identify gaps while there is still time to deal with them.

Health and safety does not need to make summer cover difficult. It is about recognising where arrangements may change and putting sensible, manageable checks in place.

Paula can help you review the health and safety impact of reduced staffing, including lone-working risks, first-aid arrangements, emergency procedures and fire-safety responsibilities.

Book a free 20-minute online chat for calm, practical guidance and a clearer idea of your next step.

Paula Santomauro

📞 07799 533094
📧 paula@yourcompanyworks.com

This blog provides general guidance and does not replace an assessment of your individual workplace.

First Aid at Work: What Your Business Actually Needs

Ask most business owners where their first-aid kit is, and they can point to it straight away.

Ask what is inside it, when it was last checked or whether it still suits the workplace, and the answer may be less certain.

That matters because workplace first aid is not a one-size-fits-all box that you buy once and forget about.

What does the law require?

Under the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981, employers must provide adequate and appropriate first-aid equipment, facilities and people.

What is adequate and appropriate will be different for every business.

The starting point is a first-aid needs assessment.

This is a straightforward review of:

  • the work you carry out;

  • your workplace hazards and risks;

  • the number of people you employ;

  • your working hours and shift patterns;

  • lone, remote or travelling workers;

  • holidays and other staff absences;

  • your history of workplace accidents.

This assessment helps you decide what equipment you need and whether you require appointed people, trained first-aiders or both.

What should be in the first-aid kit?

The contents of your kit should reflect the findings of your first-aid needs assessment.

For a lower-risk, office-based workplace, a basic kit may include:

  • individually wrapped plasters;

  • sterile dressings;

  • sterile eye pads;

  • triangular bandages;

  • safety pins;

  • disposable gloves;

  • basic first-aid guidance.

You may see kits that meet British Standard BS 8599-1. This can be a useful starting point, but it is not a legal requirement. What matters is that the contents are suitable for your workplace.

The kit should also be checked regularly. Replace dated items when they expire and make sure undated items remain clean, undamaged and fit for purpose.

Appointed person or trained first-aider?

Every workplace needs someone to take charge of its first-aid arrangements.

An appointed person looks after the equipment and facilities and calls the emergency services when needed. They do not require formal first-aid training and should not be described as a trained first-aider unless they hold the appropriate qualification.

Your assessment may show that you also need one or more trained first-aiders. The number and level of training will depend on your workplace, risks, staffing and working arrangements.

You should also consider what happens when your appointed person or first-aider is absent.

Your five-minute first-aid check:

Take a few minutes to consider:

✅ Has a first-aid needs assessment been completed?

✅ Does your kit reflect your actual workplace risks?

✅ Have dated items been checked and expired items replaced?

✅ Are undated items still clean and fit for purpose?

✅ Do employees know where the kit is kept?

✅ Do they know who the appointed person or first-aider is?

✅ Is suitable cover available during holidays, sickness and different working hours?

✅ Have your workplace, staffing levels or activities changed?

There is no need to panic, but there is a need to plan.

What should you do next?

If you are unsure about your current arrangements, it is worth reviewing them now rather than discovering a gap when somebody needs help.

Health and safety does not need to make first aid complicated.

It is simply about having the right equipment and people in place, checking the arrangements regularly and making sure employees know what to do.

Your Company Works can help you review your first-aid provision and understand what your business needs.

Book a free 20-minute online chat with Paula for calm, practical and straightforward guidance.

Paula Santomauro

📞 07799 533094
📧 paula@yourcompanyworks.com

Clean Air, Take Care: But is it a Health and Safety issue?

Air quality at work can be confusing.

An office feels stuffy. A meeting room gets uncomfortable when it is full. Someone raises concerns about headaches, tiredness or the air not feeling fresh. The first question for many business owners and office managers is often:

“Is this a health and safety issue?”

The honest answer is: it might be but it may also need another type of specialist support.

That is why understanding the difference between health and safety, occupational hygiene and occupational health can be so helpful.

Why clean air matters at work

The wider Clean Air? Take Care! campaign is focused on reducing occupational respiratory disease and promoting sensible respiratory protection in the workplace. For many businesses, especially those dealing with dust, fumes, vapours, gases or hazardous substances, clean air is a serious specialist issue.

In an office environment, the conversation is often more likely to begin with ventilation, fresh air, comfort and employee concerns.

HSE states that employers must make sure there is adequate ventilation in enclosed areas of the workplace. Ventilation means bringing in fresh air from outside and removing indoor air that may be stale, hot, humid or contain pollutants.

Where health and safety fits

General health and safety support can help a business look at how the workplace is being managed.

For an office, this may include asking:

  • Are there areas that regularly feel stuffy or poorly ventilated?

  • How does fresh air enter the space?

  • Are windows, vents or mechanical systems available and working?

  • Who is responsible for maintaining ventilation systems?

  • Have employees raised repeated concerns?

  • Are concerns being recorded and followed up?

  • Does the workplace risk assessment need to reflect the issue?

This is where Your Company Works can help.

We do not provide specialist air-quality testing, occupational-hygiene monitoring or ventilation engineering. However, we can help you understand whether a concern may sit within general health and safety management and point you in the right direction where more specialist input is needed.

Where occupational hygiene fits

Occupational hygiene is a specialist area that many people have not heard of.

The British Occupational Hygiene Society explains that occupational hygienists use science and engineering to identify, evaluate and control workplace health hazards. These can include chemicals, dust, fumes, noise, radiation, vibration and extreme temperatures.

This may be the right route where there are concerns about exposure to hazardous substances, airborne contaminants, dusts, fumes, vapours or gases.

For example, a business carrying out work that creates fumes or dust may need specialist occupational-hygiene advice rather than general office ventilation guidance.

Where occupational health fits

Occupational health is different again.

HSE explains that occupational health is concerned with how work and the work environment can affect workers’ health, and how a worker’s health can affect their ability to do their job.

Occupational health may become relevant where employees are experiencing health symptoms, where fitness for work needs to be considered, where workplace adjustments may be needed, or where health surveillance is legally required.

This is not the same as testing the air, checking a ventilation system or completing a general health and safety review.

Sometimes the building specialist is the right person

Some concerns may sit with the landlord, facilities provider, air-conditioning contractor or a competent ventilation engineer.

For example, if a mechanical ventilation system is not working properly, has not been maintained, or nobody knows whether it brings in fresh air or simply recirculates air, the business may need support from someone with technical building or ventilation expertise.

The practical message for office managers

You do not need to know every technical answer.

But you do need to:

  • listen when concerns are raised;

  • record what has been reported;

  • look at the workplace arrangements;

  • check who is responsible for the building or ventilation system;

  • take proportionate action; and

  • know when to involve the right competent specialist.

Good health and safety support is not about making things more complicated. It is about helping you understand what needs attention and what the next sensible step should be.

Not sure where a concern fits?

If you are not sure whether a workplace concern falls under health and safety or not? You do not have to work it out alone.

Book a free 20-minute online chat with Paula Santomauro.

Your Company Works can help you talk through the concern, clarify what may sit within general health and safety responsibilities, and point you in the right direction where additional specialist input may be needed.

No pressure and no unnecessary complication, just calm, practical guidance to help you understand the next sensible step.

Paula Santomauro
Your Company Works