Lone Working

We live in a 24-7 world. Care workers, shopworkers, maintenance workers, most jobs, can require people to be left alone and isolated. It can be dangerous. Workers have been murdered. Health, postal, emergency and shopworkers are frequently attacked. Injured workers have been undiscovered for hours. The law should protect you ... make sure it does.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says lone workers are "those who work by themselves without close or direct supervision." Three broad groups of workers are at risk, those: Working alone on site; working away from base; and homeworkers.

There are no specific legal duties on employers in relation to lone working, however the general duty of employers to maintain safe working arrangements under the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act applies.

HSE advises employers that they have a legal duty to notify and consult with safety representatives about the jobs of employees who work alone.

Links

Hazards lone working factsheet

London Hazards Centre Factsheet

HSE Leaflet Working alone in safety: controlling the risks of solitary work

Prospect Lone working: members' guide

UNISON: Working Alone - safety reps guide

The National Group on Homeworking

The most recent documents available on this subject are:

London seeks to lead Britain in the challenge to secure better health and safety at work
A world class city must have world class workplaces, that means aspiring to and achieving world class standards of health and safety at work – not for some, but for all. And the roadmap for turning that dream into a reality includes there being a health and safety rep in every workplace in London and a positive and meaningful partnership between that rep, the employer, unions and the Health and Safety Executive. Those are the key messages from an event (today) organised by HSE London and the Southern and Eastern Region TUC for more than 200 London based health and safety reps.
19 November 2004

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