Lone Worker

Lone workers are people who, due to the nature of their profession, can sometimes find themselves working alone, without close or direct supervision, meaning they face a constant threat to their physical safety and wellbeing. High risk workers include social workers, healthcare professionals, estate agents, sales reps etc. Employers are legally bound to provide a duty of care to protect lone workers. This can be achieved through identification of risks, regular assessment and providing solutions to control or avoid possible risks.

Modern technology is at hand to provide lone workers with the means to activate duress codes to call for assistance in emergency situations. The lone worker application will provide a system for staff to log site visits and record information relating to the job. An alerting system will raise alerts if job durations overrun. The application will allow staff to open a new job, and update/close existing jobs.

These flexible systems are designed to cope with the varying levels of severity in an emergency, whilst minimising the quantity of false alarms. The benefits of implementing such systems from the employer’s perspective include showing concern for staff safety, which in turn boosts morale and performance. If employees feel more secure in their working environment, anxiety and stress levels will be lower, leading to less disruption of work routines, through absenteeism and staff turnover.

Related Information

HSE 'Violence at Work' (INDG69/rev)

HSE 'Working Alone in Safety' (INDG73)