Lone Worker Protection

What is a Lone Worker? Anybody who works alone is classed as a lone worker. Lone workers can include:

• Self-employed people.
• Employees who work away from their business' base. This occurs in a wide range of business activities such as transport, painting and decorating and electrical and other repair work.
• People working outside normal hours - such as factory security staff or a night cleaner in an office block.
• Mobile workers - such as salespeople - who may be on their own for long periods of their working day.
• People who work from home.

Small businesses often use lone workers. For example, a shop might be staffed by just one worker at any given time.

You can find a guide on working alone in safety on the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) website.  And you can read about lone working on the London Hazards Centre (LHC) website.

Employed lone workers

If you employ lone workers, you have the same responsibilities for their health and safety as for any other employees. You may, however, need to take extra precautions to ensure that lone workers are at no greater risk than your other employees. See the page in this guide on your responsibilities to lone workers.

Self-employed lone workers

If you're self-employed you have a duty to protect your own health and safety. If you're self-employed and you work alone, this means you must identify and minimise any risks that working alone involves.