Lone Working Risk Assessment (UK)

Working alone is not against the law, but it is not risk free either. A lone working risk assessment looks at the jobs your people do without close or direct supervision, and sets out how you keep them safe when there is nobody beside them to help if something goes wrong.

Is lone working legal?

Yes. There is no law that bans working alone and no regulation written specifically for it. The duty comes from the general law: the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which require you to assess the risks to anyone affected by the work and to put reasonable controls in place. Some tasks, though, should never be done alone, such as certain work in confined spaces or some electrical work.

Who counts as a lone worker

Anyone who works by themselves without close or direct supervision: mobile engineers and tradespeople, delivery drivers, home visitors, care and support workers, cleaners and security staff working out of hours, and people working late or early in an otherwise empty building.

The main hazards

1. No help at hand if there is an accident, a fall or a sudden illness.
2. Violence and aggression, a real risk for anyone visiting the public or handling cash or medication.
3. The task itself becoming unsafe for one person, such as a lift that really needs two.
4. Medical conditions that make working alone more risky.

Controls that work

Practical controls include a check in system with set times and a named person who acts if a worker does not report in, lone worker alarms or apps with an SOS and location function, training in how to withdraw from an aggressive situation, limits on which tasks may be done alone, and a way to raise the alarm that does not depend on the worker being conscious. Match the controls to the real risk; a quiet office visit needs less than a night call to an unknown address.

Record it

Our risk assessment template lets you set out the lone working tasks, who is at risk and the controls in a clear one page form. New to the process? Start with our guide to writing a risk assessment.