Employers’ guide to lone worker safety in 2022

Whether you’re a small business or a large corporate, every company has the same legal responsibility to protect its employees from harm while they’re at work.  

While assessing the day-to-day workings and operations of a business may seem relatively straightforward, one area that can sometimes be overlooked is lone worker safety.

There are many reasons why an employee may be required (or choose) to work alone and in each case, there will be various issues that their employer needs to address to ensure safe working arrangements are in place.

In the case of our team here at Venture Security, lone worker safety is something we take very seriously. A high percentage of our officers are out there on a daily basis, working alone and facing potentially dangerous situations and higher risk. For example, our mobile security team visit various customer sites throughout the night, to check for any problems and intruders.  

We do everything in our power to minimise the potential risk; from using cutting edge tracking systems and check-in procedures, to supplying PPE and other equipment, using communication devices and providing extensive training and supervision.

So, what do employers need to think about, when it comes to lone worker safety?

Here, we’ve taken a closer look at what situations should be considered as lone working and key actions employers need to take to keep employees safe, ensure compliance with all rules and regulations and have peace of mind they have done all they can in relation to safety procedures.

Firstly, what is the definition of a lone worker?

Any employee of a company who works by themselves without close or direct supervision is classed as a lone worker. This includes contractors and self-employed people.

What some businesses may not realise is that this also includes those employees who are working remotely. With the ongoing rise in homeworking and hybrid working, employers need to be aware that they have the same liability for accident or injury for people working remotely, as they do for any other employees.

Example lone worker scenarios

Some occurrences of lone working will be obvious – such as a sales rep working out in the field, or a cleaner or maintenance person who’s required on site out of hours – but it’s not always so clear cut.

For example, employees who hold a set of keys and have responsibility for unlocking the premises in the morning and securing it again at the end of day. And who may also be expected to go on site outside of work hours, in the event of any alarm activation. In this case, they are likely to be alone on the premises and potentially facing greater risks and a rather unpleasant situation.

This was the case with our customer SENKO. Before we took over responsibility for alarm responses, the company’s warehouse manager was regularly called out to the premises in the early hours of the morning. On one occasion he arrived to find the police on site looking for an escaped prisoner!

Because lone workers can face additional health and safety risks, it’s vital for their safety and protection that employers comply with all relevant health and safety legislation.

Examples of potential safety risks for lone workers include:

• The threat of violence
• Stress and mental health or wellbeing
• Medical suitability to work alone
• The workplace environment itself (for example if it's in a rural or isolated area)
• Lack of available support if the person falls, injures themselves or suffers a serious health issue

Conducting a lone worker risk assessment

There are no rules against employees working alone but Section 19 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires employers undertake a written risk assessment, to determine whether or not an employee may work alone.

The risk assessment should look at issues such as whether a person is medically fit to work alone, along with any special arrangements, help or backup that may need to be put in place to support them.

Employers must ensure that staff are appropriately protected before entering a lone working situation, with control measures implemented to eliminate or minimise any identified risks.

Lone workers should also be made aware that they have been identified as such and be notified of the outcomes of the lone working risk assessment.

Lone worker safety checklist

When carrying out your risk assessment checklist make sure you think about:

• What kind of hazards may the lone worker be exposed to? (Including violence and other threats to their personal safety)
• What happens in the case of sudden illness?
• Is there adequate provision of welfare facilities?
• Do they know how to access and use any tools correctly?
• Can the job be adequately controlled by one person?
• Is the person medically fit to work alone?
• How will they be supervised?

Control measures

Taking steps to protect lone workers can broadly be placed into three main categories; those that prevent, prepare and protect:

• Prevent – refers to conducting and maintaining a risk assessment to identify potential risks
• Prepare – refers to working with the individual to minimise risks, such as by providing appropriate training, supervision or information
• Protect – refers to mitigating and managing any risk through the use of control measures, such as PPE and communication devices

Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, employers must manage the risk to lone workers, including training, supervising and monitoring them, keeping in touch, as well as implementing enough control measures to protect them.

For more guidance, visit the Health & Safety Executive website.

Take the risk away from key holders

At Venture, our award-winning security services can provide lone worker safety solutions.

If your business currently relies on employee key holders, we can help take the pressure and high risk away from them.

Our team is already trusted by hundreds of customers across the region, including businesses based across Andover, Salisbury, Basingstoke, Winchester, Southampton, Fareham and Surrey.

Talk to us about our locks and unlocks, and key holding and alarm response services today.

To find out more, call us on 01246 391 538 or email [email protected] to arrange a free, no obligation security assessment for your business premises.