Managing the Risk to Lone Workers

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, you must manage the risk to lone workers. Lone workers face the same hazards at work as anyone else, but there is a greater risk of these hazards causing harm as they may not have anyone to help or support them if things go wrong. As an employer, you should provide training, supervision, monitoring and support for lone workers. You must:

• Train, supervise and monitor lone workers
• Keep in touch with them and respond to any incident

When a lone worker will be at someone else’s workplace you must ask that employer about any risks and control measures to make sure they are protected.

Risks to consider

Risks that particularly affect lone workers include:

• Violence in the workplace
• Stress and mental health or wellbeing
• A person’s medical suitability to work alone
• The workplace itself, for example if it’s in a rural or isolated area

High-risk work

Certain high-risk work requires at least one other person. This includes work:

• In a confined space, where a supervisor may need to be there, along with someone in a rescue role
• Near exposed live electricity conductors
• In diving operations
• In vehicles carrying explosives
• With fumigation

Working from home

You have the same health and safety responsibilities for homeworkers and the same liability for accident or injury as for any other workers. This means you must provide supervision, education and training, as well as implementing enough control measures to protect the homeworker.

Training

It’s harder for lone workers to get help, so they may need extra training. They should understand any risks in their work and how to control them. Training is particularly important:

• Where there is limited supervision to control, guide and help in uncertain situations
• In enabling people to cope with unexpected situations, such as those involving violence

You should set limits on what can be done while working alone. Make sure workers are:

• Competent to deal with the requirements of the job
• Trained in using any technical solutions
• Able to recognise when they should get advice

Supervision

Base your levels of supervision on your risk assessment – the higher the risk, the more supervision they will need. This will also depend on their ability to identify and handle health and safety issues. The amount of supervision depends on:

• The risks involved
• Their ability to identify and handle health and safety issues

It’s a good idea for a new worker to be supervised at first if they’re:

• Being trained
• Doing a job with specific risks
• Dealing with new situations

Monitoring and keeping in touch

You must monitor your lone workers and keep in touch with them. Make sure they understand any monitoring system and procedures you use. These may include:

• When supervisors should visit and observe lone workers
• Knowing where lone workers are, with pre-agreed intervals of regular contact, using phones, radios, email etc.
• Other devices for raising the alarm, operated manually or automatically
• A reliable system to ensure a lone worker has returned to their base once they have completed their task

Regularly test these systems and all emergency procedures to ensure lone workers can be contacted if a problem or emergency is identified.

When workers’ first language is not English

Lone workers from outside the UK may come across unfamiliar risks, in a workplace culture very different from that in their own country. You must ensure they have received and understood the information, instruction and training they need to work safely.

For help and advice, please contact our Health and Safety team on 01981 590514.