Lone workers are people who work by themselves without close or direct supervision. Employers must manage the health and safety risks involved before people work alone, with arrangements covering the work itself, supervision, communication, emergencies and any circumstances that make the worker more vulnerable.
Identify Where Lone Working Changes the Risk
The hazards faced by a lone worker may be the same as those faced by colleagues working together, but the consequences can be harder to manage when nobody is nearby to provide assistance.
An assessment should therefore consider who will work alone, the hazards involved and how the absence of direct supervision affects the controls. Particular issues can include workplace violence, work-related stress, medical suitability and working in an isolated or rural location.
Lone working can occur in fixed workplaces, outside normal hours, at home or away from a permanent base. Employers should avoid limiting their arrangements to workers who are physically remote. A cleaner working alone in part of an occupied building, for example, may still lack close or direct supervision.
Where a lone worker will attend another employer's workplace, the employer should obtain information about the risks and controls there so that suitable arrangements can be made.
Decide Whether the Work Can Be Done Alone
Some work should not be allocated to one person. Certain higher-risk activities require at least one other person, including specified work involving confined spaces, exposed live electrical conductors, diving operations, vehicles carrying explosives and fumigation.
For other activities, the risk assessment should determine what a lone worker may and may not do. Clear limits are particularly useful where workers could otherwise make decisions without immediate access to a supervisor.
Managers should make sure lone workers know when to stop work, when to seek advice and when a task falls outside their authority or competence.
Set Supervision According to the Risk
Lone working does not mean working without supervision. The level of supervision should reflect the risks and the worker's ability to recognise and deal with health and safety issues.
New workers may require closer supervision while they are being trained, undertaking work with particular risks or dealing with unfamiliar situations. The arrangements can then be adjusted as competence is established and the risk assessment allows.
Training should prepare lone workers for situations in which immediate help is unavailable. Workers should understand the hazards, the agreed controls and any technical systems provided for their protection.
Maintain Reliable Contact With Lone Workers
Employers must monitor lone workers and keep in touch with them. The system should suit the level of risk and the way the work is organised.
Arrangements can include planned supervisory visits, agreed contact intervals and systems for knowing where workers are. Phones, radios or other communication methods may be suitable, while some work may justify manual or automatic alarm devices.
There should also be a reliable way to confirm that a worker has finished a task or returned to base where this is part of the working arrangement.
Communication systems need testing. A procedure that relies on a device, telephone signal or alarm is of little use if nobody knows that it has failed or if an alert does not prompt a response.
Plan for Emergencies and Worker Health
Emergency arrangements should tell lone workers how and when to contact the employer and provide the relevant emergency contact details. Workers need training in these procedures before they have to use them.
The risk assessment may also indicate a need for first aid equipment, first aid training that includes self-treatment, or access to suitable first aid facilities.
Health can affect whether someone is suitable for lone work. Where there is uncertainty about whether a health condition makes working alone safe, medical advice should be obtained. Both normal work and foreseeable emergency situations should be considered.
Regular contact also helps managers recognise signs of stress. Workers who have little contact with managers and colleagues may find it harder to obtain support.
Common Compliance Gaps
Weak arrangements include treating lone working as a job title instead of identifying when workers are actually without close supervision. Other problems include generic risk assessments, unclear limits on permitted work and contact procedures that are written down but not tested.
Employers can also miss risks created by visits to other workplaces, fail to account for violence or health factors, or assume that a mobile phone alone provides an adequate emergency system.
Manager Checklist
- Identify when and where workers operate without close or direct supervision.
- Assess how working alone affects each relevant hazard and control.
- Confirm that activities requiring another person are not assigned as lone work.
- Define the limits of what each lone worker is authorised and competent to do.
- Set supervision and contact arrangements according to the level of risk.
- Test communication, alarm and emergency response procedures at suitable intervals.
- Review medical suitability where a health condition may affect safe lone working.
- Obtain information about risks when workers attend another employer's workplace.
FAQ
Is lone working prohibited?
No. Many jobs can be carried out alone where the risks have been assessed and suitable controls are in place. Some higher-risk activities require another person to be present.
Is giving a lone worker a mobile phone enough?
Not automatically. The communication arrangement should reflect the risk, and employers need a system for keeping in touch, monitoring the worker and responding if something goes wrong.
How much supervision does a lone worker need?
The level should be based on the risk assessment and the worker's ability to identify and manage health and safety issues. Higher-risk or unfamiliar work can require closer supervision.
Do lone-working arrangements apply to homeworkers?
Homeworkers can be lone workers. Employers still need to manage relevant health and safety risks and provide suitable supervision, information and training.