A lone worker is someone who works alone without close or direct supervision. They can fall into various categories, such as a social care worker visiting people’s homes to agriculture workers and engineers.
People who are lone working may be exposed to several kind of hazards in their work, such as:
- Accidents or emergencies arising out of work
- Inadequate provision of hygiene and welfare facilities
- Environmental dangers
- Abuse or assault
There are greater risks for lone workers working without direct supervision or anyone to help them if things go wrong.
Lone Working - Employer responsibilities
Employers are legally responsible for the health, safety and welfare at work of all workers. Whilst it can often be safer to work alone, the law does require employers to think about and deal with any health and safety risks prior to employees working alone.
Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, employers must manage the risk to lone workers. This includes training, supervising and monitoring them in addition to keeping in touch with them and responding to any incidents.
Also, employers must manage, assess and control any risks in the workplace. A risk assessment is required for businesses with five or more workers and it helps to:
- Identify hazards
- Consider how the employee could harm people
- Outline control methods for the risks
Whilst there is no legal requirement to conduct a risk assessment specifically for lone workers, employers have a duty to include risks to lone workers in the general risk assessment.
A risk assessment should help employers to decide on the right level of supervision for lone workers.
Employers must think about who the worker may come into contact with, the work they are carrying out and how this may affect the risk. Employers should ask themselves the following:
- How experienced is the worker?
- How experienced is the person working alone?
- Is the worker vulnerable? For example, are they young, pregnant, disabled or a trainee?
Employers should also consider the environment that the person is working in and the equipment that they are using:
- Is the work in a rural or isolated area?
- Does the workplace present a specific risk to the worker?
- Is the worker going into someone else’s home or premises?
- Does the worker have adequate means of communication?
If a lone worker is working at someone else’s workplace then they must ask that employer about any risks or control measures to ensure that they are protected.
Lone Working - Mental health and wellbeing
Lone working can also negatively impact mental health and work-related stress levels. If communication is poor, workers may feel disconnected, isolated or abandoned. This in turn could affect their performance and contribute to their mental wellbeing.
If employers make regular contact and recognise signs of stress or mental health early on, they can put procedures in place to help lone workers.
In addition to this, lone workers should also be trained on emergency procedures and should receive guidance on who to contact in an emergency. A risk assessment should outline these details.
Lone Working - Employee responsibilities
Whilst the employer holds the main responsibility for protecting the health and safety of lone workers, employees are responsible for:
- Taking reasonable care of their own health and safety
- Safeguarding the health and safety of other people affected by their work
- Cooperating with the employer’s health and safety procedures
- Use tools and equipment properly in accordance with the safety instructions and training given
- Not misuse equipment
- Report all injuries, accidents, near misses and any other dangerous occurrences
If a lone worker is worried about any health and safety risks, they should raise their concerns to:
- Their employer
- A manager or supervisor
- A health and safety representative
Some employers use dynamic risk assessments for lone working situations. Lone workers use these types of risk assessments to make operational decisions based on risks that cannot be foreseen. It is worth noting that this is not a substitute for a comprehensive risk assessment.
Lastly, if a worker has to undertake a dynamic risk assessment, they must:
- Receive training on how to make the assessment
- Consider the range of possible control measures
- Consider what action to take
- Get support for their decisions
