Lone Working: Employer Duties, Risk Assessment and Policy Guide

Lone working means doing a job without close or direct supervision, where no colleague is nearby to help if something goes wrong. Cleaners on early or late shifts, car park attendants, security and reception staff covering a building alone, mobile maintenance workers and night porters are all common examples. There is no law that bans lone working, but employers must assess the risks and put controls in place, because, as the Health and Safety Executive puts it, lone workers face the same hazards as others but “there is a greater risk of these hazards causing harm” when no one is there to help.

This guide explains employer duties, how to risk assess lone working, check-in systems that work and what to include in a lone working policy.

The law on lone working

• Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974: employers must ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of employees and others affected by their work.
• Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999: employers must assess risks, including those of working alone, and put measures in place.
• HSE guidance INDG73, Protecting lone workers: sets out how to manage the risks, including work-related violence, keeping in touch, and stress and wellbeing.

These duties apply whether the lone worker is your employee or a contractor working on your premises, so clients and contractors should agree who is responsible for what.

Who counts as a lone worker?

Role	Typical lone working situation
Office and commercial cleaners	Early morning or evening shifts in an empty building
Car park attendants	Patrolling large or multi-storey car parks, often at night
Reception and concierge	Covering a front desk alone, out of hours
Night porters	Overnight cover in hotels or residential blocks
Mobile and maintenance staff	Visiting several sites alone
Retail staff	Opening or closing a store alone

How to risk assess lone working

Use the standard five-step approach, focused on what is different when someone is alone:

1. Identify hazards: slips and falls, manual handling, chemicals, working at height, violence or aggression, medical conditions, fire.
2. Decide who might be harmed and how: consider new or young workers, people with medical conditions, and pregnant workers.
3. Evaluate and control: remove high-risk tasks from lone working altogether (for example, no working at height alone), and add controls for the rest.
4. Record findings and share them with the worker.
5. Review after incidents, changes to the site or at least annually.

Controls that work

• Check-in procedures: agreed times to call or message a supervisor, with a clear escalation plan if a check-in is missed.
• Lone worker devices or apps: with panic alarms, GPS and man-down alerts for higher-risk roles.
• Task restrictions: certain jobs only done in pairs or during staffed hours.
• Site security: good lighting, locked entrances, CCTV and safe parking.
• Training: conflict management, first aid awareness and emergency procedures.
• Welfare: access to toilets, rest areas and drinking water, and regular contact to reduce isolation and stress.

For cleaners, chemical safety is a key part of lone working. Our COSHH guide explains how to use products safely, and our compliance calendar shows where lone working reviews fit.

What to include in a lone working policy

1. Purpose and scope: who the policy covers.
2. Roles and responsibilities: managers, lone workers, clients.
3. Risk assessment process.
4. Tasks that must not be done alone.
5. Check-in and escalation procedure.
6. Equipment provided, such as devices and PPE.
7. Training requirements.
8. Reporting incidents and near misses.
9. Support for wellbeing and stress.
10. Review date.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is lone working legal in the UK?

Yes. It is legal, but employers must assess the risks and put suitable controls in place.

Do I need a lone working policy?

There is no specific legal requirement for a written policy, but employers with five or more employees must record significant risk assessment findings, and a policy is the clearest way to do it.

What is a lone worker check-in?

An agreed routine where the lone worker contacts a supervisor at set times, with a plan to follow if they do not.

Which tasks should not be done alone?

Typically high-risk work such as working at height, confined spaces, live electrical work and some chemical tasks, depending on your risk assessment.

This article is general guidance. Refer to HSE guidance INDG73 for full details.