Lone working: what UK employers need to do
By the SafetyEvo team · · reviewed · 6 min read
Lone working simply means working without close or direct supervision. It covers the engineer at a customer’s home, the cleaner in an empty office at six in the morning, the security officer on a night patrol and the driver on a rural route.
In the UK there is no general ban on working alone. What the law does expect is that employers understand the risks their lone workers face and take reasonable steps to control them. This article explains what that involves. It is general guidance, not legal advice.
What the law expects
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 places a general duty on employers to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees, so far as is reasonably practicable. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to assess the risks to their employees and put in place the measures that the assessment shows are needed.
For lone workers, that means asking a specific question: what could go wrong for this person, working alone, and how would we know and respond if it did?
Assess the risks of working alone
The Health and Safety Executive publishes guidance on protecting lone workers, which is a good starting point. Things to consider include:
- The work itself: is it safe to do alone, or does it need two people?
- The place: remote sites, confined spaces, poor signal, members of the public.
- The person: training, experience and any medical conditions that make lone working riskier.
- Violence and aggression: whether staff may meet hostile people.
- Time: early mornings, late evenings and nights, when help is further away.
Put the right arrangements in place
Good arrangements usually combine several things:
- Clear procedures, written down and explained to staff.
- Training, so people know the risks and what to do.
- A way to keep in touch: regular contact, check-in times and a way to raise the alarm.
- A plan for what happens when someone does not check in, or calls for help, including who responds and when it escalates.
- Records, so you can show what happened and improve.
Where a lone worker app fits
A lone worker app does not replace a risk assessment or a sensible procedure. It is a tool for the "keep in touch" and "raise the alarm" parts of it. The most important question to ask of any system is what happens after the alarm goes off: who is told, how, and what happens if they do not answer.
SafetyEvo is built around that question. Every alert keeps escalating, by push, text and call, until a named person in your office acknowledges it, and every step is recorded.
Review and improve
Revisit your lone working arrangements regularly, and after any incident. Testing the system, for example with a weekly drill alert, shows whether the whole chain still works, not just the app.
Sources
This article is general guidance, not legal advice. For your own situation, speak to a health and safety or legal adviser.