Many jobs in agriculture and horticulture require people to work alone, whether it be looking after sheep on distant hillsides or to ploughing fields all day. In fact, to many land based employees, lone working is the norm. While this occurs in many industries it is particularly prevalent in agriculture.

We are going to examine this particular circumstance in order to demonstrate how each of the Learning Objectives in Unit 1 link with each other and can be used to control risks - here of lone working. This process can be used as a model for controlling any risks on the land.

There is no law which says people cannot work alone - contrary to popular myth. However, there has been a major prosecution in agriculture where the employer failed to meet the required standards of the duty of care. This gives us guidance on good practice. Special measures need to be put in place to protect lone workers - as far as is reasonably practicable.