Hi Al,
To quickly answer your question/s
As far as the electrical regs go a domestic dwelling is habited by non-skilled "ordinary persons" as such the certain protective measures as listed are forbidden from this environment, even if you are a "skilled person" yourself you cannot use that as a "get out clause" because other members of the household will certainly be classed as "ordinary persons", this part of the electrical regs is normative, therefore it "shall" or "shall not" be done, depending on what particular aspect we are talking about.
if your workshop was a registered business (it could be a room in a house) then you could apply the commercial rules for that room only, where this was the case at one place I worked, there has to be certain other conditions applied to that room however.
I hope this clarifies the situation
Ps. under commercial rules the HSE also forbids live working on your own, there is supposed to be at least someone else present to isolate in case of an accident, administer first aid etc.....etc.
Ps.2 what you decide to do in your own home is not really anyone else's business, just you are then fully liable should something go badly wrong. Please don't take this the wrong way, it is just how it is.