Good practice: lone working
Headlines
Who are lone workers?
The HSE describes a lone worker as “someone who works by
themselves without close or direct supervision”. People may work
alone because:
- they need to work in a separate part of the premises
- their work is outside normal hours
- the workforce is very small
- they’re mobile, such as salespeople, delivery staff and care
workers.
Even if someone works in a busy office or factory, they can become
a lone worker when travelling for work purposes, working late or
working from home. A risk assessment for lone working is required
whether someone is a lone worker every day or just
occasionally.
What are the hazards?
Hazards to employees could include:
- violence and abuse – normally from people. For example,
potentially vulnerable workers may include utility meter readers
who have to enter households on their own.
- injuries from animals are also relevant in some occupations,
such as postmen
- accidents where the consequences are worse if there’s no
immediate assistance, e.g. slips, trips and falls, suffocation in
confined spaces, electrocution or working with dangerous
substances
- accidents that result from lone working, e.g. attempting to
lift something (or someone) alone when help is needed or falling
from a ladder that needed to be supported by an extra person
- long-term health issues resulting from an employee’s isolation,
lack of supervision, knowledge or training. This could include
musculoskeletal disorders due to lack of a proper DSE
assessment.
An example of a hazard happened in 2003 involving a
care assistant working alone who dropped a 97-year-old woman.
The lady died, and the care assistant’s employer was fined £90,000
with nearly £20,000 costs. In a more recent prosecution, a care home was
fined £15,000 with £10,500 costs for an incident which resulted in
the death of an 80-year-old quadriplegic resident who fell from bed
while being washed and dressed by a single carer, despite written
procedures that such a task should always be carried out by two
carers.
Hazards to other people most commonly relate to lone drivers.
Employees driving on their own for work may have accidents
because:
- they’ve been driving for too
long
- because one driver has been used where two should have been
provided – e.g. long-distance coach drivers and lorry drivers
- the employee may be expected to make and
take phone calls while driving – e.g. supermarket shopping
delivery drivers. This causes a distraction, whether or not
hands-free phones have been provided.
Hazards magazine’s factsheet 72, ‘Working alone’, provides a list
of occupations and hazards.
Are particular people at risk?
As well as considering the hazards generally, the risk
assessment should consider whether particular staff may be at risk.
For example:
- those with health issues such as diabetes or epilepsy
- disabled employees
- young or inexperienced workers
- pregnant workers
- workers whose first language isn’t English.
You shouldn’t make assumptions about what a person can or cannot
do, and you should consult an employee to assess whether a medical
condition or disability could affect their ability to work
alone.
How can the hazards be controlled?
There are plenty of companies that sell lone worker alarms.
However, buying alarms without considering organisational issues
such as job design, training and awareness is like buying hearing
protection without first considering if the noise level can be
reduced. Organisational measures may be more cost-effective than
high-tech equipment.
Can you eliminate or reduce lone working?
Does the job need to be done by one person? Is it practical to
send two people? Economically, this may not be possible for some
jobs, such as takeaway deliveries, but for some high-risk work, for
example work that involves confined space entry, there should
always be someone else nearby.
Can you reduce the amount of time that someone spends on their
own?
Rather than two door-to-door salespeople working in two
completely different areas, they could work their way down two
sides of the same road, arranging to meet up at pre-defined
intervals. Where a person is visited by a home-help and a district
nurse in the same day, co-ordinate the times so that there’s an
overlap between workers to enable two people to safely lift the
client if required.
Many industries use a ‘buddy’ system to reduce the effects of
lone working. For example, Royal
and Sun Alliance asks lone workers who also live alone to
telephone a specific buddy at the end of each day to confirm they
have arrived home safely.
Homeworkers can be invited into the office for regular meetings,
or visited by colleagues or management where practical. Where
face-to-face meetings aren’t possible, some contact should be by
telephone, not just email.
Can physical barriers help to protect the lone worker?
Physical barriers may help in some situations to reduce the
danger of violence to lone workers, for example at petrol stations
providing a late night service with a single employee. However,
there’s also evidence that in
some situations barriers can create tension and increase the
likelihood of violence and abuse.
How can you control lone working?
Permits to work are commonly used to control more hazardous
work, such as electrical work and entry to confined spaces.
Permits, which can include a sign-off from a manager to indicate
that they’re aware the employee will be working alone for a
specific period of time, can provide an extra control when applied
to lone working situations.
For any task, correct equipment should be provided and used
correctly. For example, a lone office worker should use an
appropriate climbing aid to reach a high shelf rather than stand on
an office chair. Salespeople should use a trolley to move samples
from their car to a house rather than attempt to carry them.
Training
Lone workers need training on:
- how to plan and carry out a job safely, using appropriate
equipment
- how to decide when to simply walk or drive away from a
situation
- how to recognise danger and take appropriate action. For
example, apologising to diffuse a difficult situation or parking a
vehicle in a way that makes a quick getaway possible
- who to contact if there’s a problem and they need help. This is
particularly relevant for non-native workers who may not know how
to contact the emergency services, and may not be able to explain
their problem to passers-by if they’re upset or ill
- some emergency first aid, for example to treat their own burns,
eye injuries or to control bleeding. Appropriate first aid
equipment should be provided.
Industry specific training
The Department of Health provides a
detailed checklist for social care staff. Also, the Department
for Transport has
advice for bus drivers, their
managers, the
designers of buses and coaches, and the planners and architects of
bus and coach stations.
For home workers, see the
IOSH guide on Teleworking, the HSE leaflet on
Homeworking and the more detailed HSE research report ‘Health
and safety of home workers’ with example risk
assessments and good practice.
Specialist training on lone working is provided by the
Suzy
Lamplugh Trust.
The technology
If all steps have been taken to eliminate, reduce and control
the risks of lone working, technology can be considered to reduce
the residual risk. A variety of different alarm and tracking
devices exist:
- inexpensive personal alarms make loud noises when triggered.
These rely on someone else hearing the noise and choosing to help,
or on frightening an attacker away
- when triggered, GPS devices send a signal with the worker’s
location to an individual or to a control room where appropriate
help can be sent out
- GPS tracking can be carried out without the use of an alarm
system. A lone worker’s phone can be set up to send a regular
bulletin on their location, or to enable someone to check their
location if they are late checking in
- so-called ‘man-down’ alarms can be triggered by a tilt switch
(if someone falls over) or by a motion sensor (if someone remains
still for too long)
- some alarms require the lone worker to respond to regular text
messages within a pre-determined interval.
Some alarm systems are based on using existing mobile phones, PDAs
or Blackberries. It has been suggested that use of such devices can
escalate a threatening situation. If this is likely to be the case,
more discreet devices are available – for example some look like an
ID card and can be activated without the aggressor noticing. GPS
tracking devices can be fitted in vehicles or carried in a brief
case.
IOSH links
This includes advice on many of the hazards identified above,
including stress, road accidents, violence and workstation set-up
and use.
Other links