Dos and Donts of Lone Worker Safety

DO ensure that lone workers have the right equipment and training to complete their work. Ensure that they always follow safety protocols and that their supervisor or manager knows where they are working.

DO define what it means to be a lone worker. It’s important to know that someone is a lone worker when they cannot be seen or heard by another person.

Identifying Risks and Hazards

Lone workers face a number of different risks and hazards when working alone. These can range from being caught off guard by an abrasive customer to a physical attack. It is important that companies educate their staff on the dangers they may face when working alone and offer them training to help them deal with these issues. This can include learning first aid, defusing aggressive situations, and knowing how to spot warning signs of a potential risk.

The type of work being done by a lone worker is also a factor in determining how many risks they will be exposed to. For example, if an employee will be going into a private home to perform a service, they will need to assess the level of risk involved. This may mean ensuring the home is safe before going inside or arranging for someone else to accompany them.

Workers who must travel or go out of the office should have a means of checking in with their line manager on a regular basis. This can be done verbally or through the use of a cellular phone. Alternatively, the employee can be required to send a video of themselves back to their manager, or they can be required to send photos of their location. Keeping a record of where a lone worker is at all times can be helpful in the event that they need to be rescued or are unable to call for help.

Those employees who are at a higher risk of danger – such as those who are in high crime areas or who are handling valuable merchandise or are doing overnight shifts – should be treated with particular care and attention. This could mean making sure they are always in view of people in the area, keeping a clear audit trail on their location through regular check-ins, or providing them with additional safety equipment such as personal alarms and body armour.

All lone workers should be familiar with the risks involved in their job and know how to avoid them. This can be achieved by running a risk assessment every time a new task is undertaken. This should be updated on a regular basis, especially if the level of risk has changed due to factors such as a change in working practices or equipment or if a worker has been injured on the job.

Creating a Lone Worker Policy

Before implementing any new working alone procedures, it is a good idea to make sure that your employees are aware of what is involved. To do this, you should identify the different types of lone worker roles within your business and speak to the workers themselves about the ways in which working alone creates additional challenges and hazards for them.

A lone worker policy should clearly outline the safety guidelines and procedures that lone workers are expected to follow. This should include instructions for checking in with supervisors, how and when to report incidents and accidents, as well as any precautions they need to take to mitigate the risks of their work. Having this information in writing is important because human memory is fallible and being able to refer back to written policies can help reduce mistakes caused by forgetfulness.

Once you have drafted your lone worker policy, it is worth taking the time to make sure that all employees understand the importance of following the rules. This can be done through briefings, training and a step-by-step guide that they can refer to until the procedures become routine. It is also a good idea to give the policy to all employees who will be affected by it, including any temporary or part-time workers, so that they can familiarize themselves with the rules and procedures before they start working alone.

In order to ensure that your lone worker policy is effective, it is essential that you review it regularly. This should be included as part of your overall health and safety program and carried out alongside any other risk assessment you undertake in your business. You should look at the risks identified in the lone working policy and assess whether or not these are being managed effectively, as well as consider any additional risks that you may have discovered as a result of your risk assessments.

It is also a good idea to consider how you will record and communicate the results of your lone working policy. This could include recording any changes to the policy in the workplace, making sure that all employees are aware of the new procedures and how they differ from those previously implemented, or using a tool that allows all employees to access the lone worker policy online.

Conducting Regular Risk Assessments

Once you have identified the hazards and risks that are specific to your lone workers, it’s time to create an action plan. It is a good idea to create and update this on an ongoing basis, as it will help your employees stay safe while working alone. Ensure that the actions include any emergency procedures they may need to follow, such as checking-in with a colleague or an out-of-hours contact person. lone worker alarm Additionally, any technological solutions should be incorporated in the action plan. This is especially important if your staff are working in a remote area or with dangerous equipment, as it will give them the reassurance that they can alert someone in case of an emergency.





The actions should also cover how the lone worker will manage their workload to prevent fatigue and fatigue-related incidents. Physiological data can provide useful insights that can be used for this purpose, such as identifying how long an employee can safely work before needing to take a break or whether certain shift patterns are more suitable than others. Finally, the lone worker policy should include any relevant legislation and best practices that must be adhered to. It is essential to comply with any health and safety regulations that apply, as failure to do so can result in fines or even imprisonment.

It’s a good idea to incorporate the new lone working procedure into existing staff training, as well as to set up a schedule of regular top-up training sessions. This will keep the company in compliance with any regulations and will allow for a more tailored approach to safety. It’s also worth noting that prevention is a key element of any lone worker policy and risk assessment, so it’s important to record any incidents, near misses and accidents.

To make this process easier, we’ve created a free lone worker risk assessment template that you can download and use in your workplace. It’s pre-filled with common hazards lone workers face and popular mitigation methods, but you can easily modify it to fit your needs. Simply click the button below to access the template and start identifying the risks that your lone workers face.

Creating a Lone Worker Action Plan

Once you’ve identified the risks and hazards that your lone workers face, it is important to develop an action plan to mitigate those risks. This will require a thorough risk assessment of your employees’ work and the environments in which they operate, along with the policies currently in place. Ideally, you will use the results of this assessment to develop a working alone policy that is customized to your organization’s unique needs.

Your lone worker policy should clearly define processes, procedures and roles and responsibilities in non-negotiable terms. It should also provide clear guidance on what steps lone workers and managers must take if an incident occurs. This includes establishing specific reporting procedures, detailing what information should be reported and who should respond.

It is vital to provide lone workers with tools and technologies that will allow them to check in at regular intervals and to contact emergency services if needed. This may include the use of GPS tracking software or panic buttons. Lone workers should be provided with training and briefing on the use of these systems so that they are confident using them before being sent out on their own.

As with any safety policy, your lone worker policy will need to be reviewed at regular intervals to ensure that it is up-to-date and meets the current safety regulations. This will also be an opportunity to identify any new procedures, equipment or chemicals that should be included in your ongoing risk assessments and to determine whether your lone worker policies need to be amended accordingly.

It is important that your lone worker policy is clearly communicated to your employees and that it is widely distributed. This will help to foster engagement and make it easier for everyone to follow when it comes time to apply the policy in an emergency situation. It is a good idea to hold workshops or meetings where the policy can be discussed so that employees can ask questions and raise any concerns they might have. This will also be an opportunity for you to explain why the policy was created and how it will improve safety in your workplace.