Lone worker risk assessment

Lone workers face greater risks than people who are present in a workplace with supervisors and colleagues. For example, delivery drivers, estate agents, wind farm technicians, security guards and certain healthcare workers are frequently on their own during their workdays. They may face unique risks that your other employees don’t encounter, and when they face risks similar to those of your other employees, there may be nobody around to help them. 

As an employer, it’s your duty to keep all your employees as safe as possible at work even when they are working alone or off-site. To do this, you need to do some very serious thinking which is captured in the form of a lone worker risk assessment. In this article, we’ll discuss how employers should go about risk assessments for lone workers as the first step towards keeping them as safe as possible during their workdays. 

Are lone working risk assessments a legal requirement?

UK Health and Safety Laws require employers to take steps to keep employees safe at work. To this end, risk assessments, including lone work risk assessments are required by law. Lone work risk assessments require particular focus because of the elevated risks that these workers face. 

Lone worker risks include accidents in the course of performing their duties, medical emergencies that may arise when nobody is nearby to help, and personal safety and security threats while they are on duty. Besides this, employers must consider how they’ll help workers access the basics any healthy workplace would offer, for example, access to clean water and toilet facilities when they’re out and about on their own. 

What should lone working risk assessments contain?

Your lone working risk assessment should contain the following information:

• The risks you identified
• People who may be affected
• How they might be affected
• Procedures to reduce risks and protect lone workers from harm
• Any further steps you plan to take to reduce risk

How do I create a lone worker risk assessment

Your lone working risk-assessment begins with risk identification. Involve health and safety representatives as well as lone workers themselves. Supplement your information by checking through previous incident and near-miss reports. Some risks are less-than-obvious – or so obvious that you and your staff might overlook them. Consider involving a trained risk analyst. 

Once you have identified workplace risks, make a list of all the workers who may be subject to them and the possible consequences if the worst should happen. Examples include illness or injury, or exposure to violence. Identify, capture and consider the existing measures put in place to mitigate risk. If these measures are implemented, what is the residual risk (remaining risk level)? Now consider whether there are additional interventions that could further reduce worker risk. 

West Suffolk local government has published its lone worker risk assessment, and the document is worth viewing. You’ll be able to see the lone worker risk assessment steps they followed and how they captured their findings in a single document. 

Finally, the tasks your workers undertake, and the environment in which this occurs can change over time. Schedule reviews at least once every three years, and perform lone worker risk assessment reviews whenever changes to the way you work occur or new risks you failed to account for come to light. 

Examples of how to reduce lone worker risks

All workplaces are different, but these risk reduction examples cover most eventualities.

Policies and procedures

People who are working alone must follow safe policies and procedures. As a simple example, lone workers who are on the road should drive in approved vehicles and abide by traffic laws. This may seem too obvious to mention. However, it should be captured in your risk assessment and be communicated to workers.

Use of specialised tools and personal protective equipment (PPE)

Certain tasks require the use of specialised tools or PPE. As an employer, you must ensure that lone workers are well-equipped to perform their work, have access to necessary PPE,  and know when and how to use it correctly. 

Training

Training is an essential component of lone worker safety. Workers must be aware of risks and what they must do to keep themselves safe. This includes everything from knowing and following procedures to advanced training that may help them to make the right decisions in an emergency. 

Lone worker monitoring

Are your lone workers OK? Knowing the answer to this question could involve anything from instituting regular check-ins to providing and monitoring bodycams or using “no movement” alarms via two way radio and BBPTT devices – depending on the nature of the risks.  

Distress signals and calls for help

If lone workers find themselves in a potentially dangerous situation, they must be able to summon help quickly – preferably at the touch of a button. With the right procedures in place, it is possible to provide effective support when they raise the alarm.

Stay in touch with Radiocoms

If you’re concerned about your capacity to monitor lone worker safety, our communications systems offer you a straightforward solution. Two way radios and Broadband Push to Talk (BBPTT) devices help you to stay in touch. With Radiocoms, your lone workers can work with confidence, knowing that help is always at hand. Contact us today for more information.