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{{org_field_name}}

Registration Number: {{org_field_registration_no}}

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Lone Working Policy

1. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to set out how {{org_field_name}} will protect employees, workers, agency workers and contractors who undertake lone working activities on behalf of the organisation. {{org_field_name}} recognises that lone working can increase exposure to risks including accidents, sudden illness, work-related violence, harassment, discrimination, communication failure, environmental hazards and delayed emergency assistance.

This policy explains the arrangements for assessing and controlling those risks, maintaining communication, responding to incidents and supporting staff before, during and after lone working activities.

{{org_field_name}} will implement this policy in line with its duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the Equality Act 2010 and all other applicable health and safety, employment and data protection laws. Where lone workers may be exposed to harassment by colleagues, clients, service users, patients, visitors or members of the public, {{org_field_name}} will take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment and other unlawful harassment in the course of work.

This policy must be read alongside {{org_field_name}}’s Health and Safety Policy, Risk Assessment Procedure, Incident Reporting Procedure, Safeguarding Policy, Data Protection and Confidentiality Policy, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy, Anti-Harassment and Bullying Policy, and any assignment-specific or client-specific safety procedures.

2. Scope

This policy applies to all employees, workers, agency workers, temporary workers, bank staff, contractors and any other individuals engaged by or through {{org_field_name}} who may work alone or without close or direct supervision.

It applies to lone working carried out:

• at service users’ homes or other community settings;
• at client, hirer, care, health or office premises;
• during out-of-hours, night, early morning or weekend work;
• while travelling for work, including between assignments;
• while opening, closing or occupying office premises alone; and
• while working remotely where a person may be exposed to work-related risks without immediate assistance.

This policy applies in addition to any site-specific, client-specific or assignment-specific lone working, health and safety, safeguarding or security procedures notified to the worker by {{org_field_name}} or the relevant hirer.

3. Definition of Lone Working

Lone working is defined as any work activity that is undertaken without direct or close supervision, meaning that employees may be at an increased risk due to limited support, communication, or assistance in an emergency.

Examples of lone working include:

• Visiting service users in their homes
• Providing care in isolated areas of healthcare settings
• Working alone in an office or facility
• Travelling alone to appointments or meetings

4. Responsibilities

Senior Management will:

• ensure that suitable arrangements, staffing, equipment and resources are in place to manage lone working safely;
• ensure that suitable and sufficient risk assessments are completed, reviewed and implemented;
• promote a culture in which staff can refuse or withdraw from unsafe lone working without detriment where there is a genuine and immediate safety concern;
• review incident trends, near misses and risk control effectiveness; and
• ensure that relevant managers and workers receive training and support.

Line Managers / Coordinators / Supervisors will:

• identify roles and assignments involving lone working;
• complete and review lone working risk assessments before work starts and whenever circumstances change;
• check whether the worker is suitable for the assignment, including competence, experience, communication needs, health considerations and any reasonable adjustments required;
• obtain and share, on a need-to-know basis, relevant safety information about service users, locations, known triggers, environmental hazards, access arrangements and emergency contacts;
• put in place control measures including check-in arrangements, escalation procedures and emergency response arrangements;
• ensure incidents, concerns and refusals of unsafe work are recorded and acted upon; and
• provide post-incident support, debriefing and referral where needed.

Employees, Workers and Agency Workers will:

• follow this policy, risk assessments, safe systems of work and assignment instructions;
• attend required training and use issued equipment correctly;
• keep to agreed check-in arrangements and report changes to location, schedule or risk level promptly;
• stop work, leave the location where possible and seek help if they believe there is a serious or imminent risk to health or safety;
• report incidents, near misses, hazards, threats, abusive behaviour and equipment failures without delay; and
• cooperate with reasonable monitoring, investigation and review arrangements.

Health and Safety Lead / Responsible Person will:

• provide advice on risk assessments and control measures;
• monitor trends, audit compliance and recommend improvements;
• consider whether incidents are reportable under RIDDOR or require referral to other external bodies; and
• support managers in reviewing lone working arrangements after incidents, complaints or safeguarding concerns.

5. Risk Assessment & Control Measures

A suitable and sufficient lone working risk assessment must be completed before assigning lone work and must be reviewed whenever there is reason to believe it is no longer valid or there has been a significant change in the work, the worker, the location, the service user, the assignment or the control measures.

The assessment must consider, where relevant:

• the nature of the task and whether it is appropriate to be undertaken by one person;
• the location, access, lighting, parking, building security, exits and environmental conditions;
• the worker’s training, experience, language needs, disability, pregnancy, medical condition, fatigue and any required reasonable adjustments;
• whether the work involves contact with service users, patients, clients, relatives or members of the public who may present risks of aggression, harassment, violence, intoxication, unsafe animals, smoking, weapons, substance misuse or other unsafe conditions;
• whether there is a known history of violence, safeguarding concerns, criminal behaviour, infection risks or environmental hazards at the location;
• manual handling, medication, moving and handling, clinical or other high-risk tasks where relevant;
• the availability and reliability of communication systems, lone worker devices, alarms, GPS, mobile phone signal and welfare check arrangements;
• travel risks, weather conditions, road safety, route planning and out-of-hours attendance;
• emergency arrangements, including what action will be taken if the worker cannot be contacted or activates an alarm; and
• whether the assignment should be carried out by more than one person or should not proceed at all.

Control measures may include:

• pre-placement or pre-visit risk screening;
• obtaining and documenting relevant risk information from the hirer, client, referrer or previous incident records;
• buddy systems, scheduled welfare calls, arrival/departure confirmation and escalation timeframes;
• coded emergency phrases or alarm activation processes;
• lone worker devices, panic alarms, GPS-enabled devices or other communication tools proportionate to the risk;
• restricting or prohibiting lone working for specific tasks, locations or individuals;
• pairing staff, changing visit times, shortening visits or relocating meetings to safer environments;
• training in conflict resolution, de-escalation, personal safety, safeguarding and emergency response; and
• immediate review following any incident, near miss or material change in risk.

Workers must carry out a dynamic assessment on arrival and throughout the assignment. If the worker identifies conditions that are unsafe or materially different from the information previously provided, they must not continue the lone working activity unless and until the risk has been reassessed and it is safe to proceed.

Any sharing of personal, health, safeguarding or criminal-offence information for safety purposes must be limited to what is necessary, proportionate and lawful, and handled in accordance with {{org_field_name}}’s Data Protection and Confidentiality Policy.

6. Safe Working Practices

Before lone working begins, the worker must:

• confirm the assignment details, address, expected start and finish times, contact arrangements and any known risks;
• ensure that their mobile phone, lone worker device or other communication equipment is charged, working and accessible;
• have available the relevant emergency numbers and escalation contacts, including {{org_field_out_of_hours}} where applicable; and
• ensure they understand any assignment-specific safety, safeguarding, infection control or site-security requirements.

During home visits, community visits or work at third-party premises, the worker must:

• remain alert to changes in behaviour, environment or risk indicators;
• position themselves as safely as possible, including maintaining access to exits where practicable;
• avoid entering or remaining in a location where there is violence, threatening behaviour, sexual harassment, severe intoxication, unsafe animals, visible weapons, serious environmental hazards or any other immediate safety concern;
• leave immediately where it is safe to do so if risk escalates beyond a manageable level; and
• follow the agreed check-in and alarm procedures at all times.

When travelling alone, the worker must:

• use reasonably safe routes and parking arrangements;
• avoid unnecessary disclosure of personal details;
• keep valuables out of sight; and
• notify the designated contact promptly if delayed, diverted or unable to attend.

In an emergency, the worker must:

• prioritise their immediate safety and withdraw from the situation where possible;
• contact the emergency services where required;
• activate the lone worker alarm or agreed escalation process; and
• report the incident to {{org_field_name}} as soon as practicable after reaching safety.

No worker will be required to continue lone working where there is a serious and immediate risk to their health, safety or welfare.

7. Work-Related Violence, Abuse and Harassment

{{org_field_name}} has a zero-tolerance approach to work-related violence, abuse, threats, intimidation, sexual harassment and discriminatory behaviour towards lone workers.

Risk information relating to known or reasonably foreseeable violence, aggression, harassment or unsafe behaviour must, where lawful and proportionate, be considered as part of the lone working risk assessment and communicated on a need-to-know basis to protect staff.

No worker is expected to remain in or enter an unsafe situation. Where a worker experiences or is at risk of violence, threats, sexual harassment or other abusive behaviour, they must withdraw where possible, seek assistance and report the matter immediately.

{{org_field_name}} will investigate such incidents, review control measures and take appropriate steps with the hirer, client, service user, police or safeguarding authority as required.

8. Reporting & Incident Management

All accidents, incidents, near misses, welfare concerns, alarm activations, missed check-ins, threatening behaviour, violence, verbal abuse, sexual harassment, discrimination, safeguarding concerns and equipment failures connected with lone working must be reported without undue delay to the line manager or on-call contact and recorded in accordance with {{org_field_name}}’s incident reporting procedure.

{{org_field_name}} will investigate reported incidents proportionately, identify lessons learned, review risk assessments and implement additional controls where required.

Where appropriate, incidents will be referred or reported to:

• the police;
• the relevant local authority safeguarding team;
• the Health and Safety Executive under RIDDOR; and/or
• any relevant client, hirer, host employer or commissioning body, subject to lawful information-sharing requirements.

Following a serious incident or near miss, the worker must be offered a debrief and appropriate support, which may include welfare follow-up, supervision, occupational health referral or employee assistance support.

9. Support & Well-being of Lone Workers

{{org_field_name}} recognises that lone working can affect mental health, confidence and wellbeing, particularly where workers are exposed to distressing situations, aggression, harassment, isolation or repeated high-risk assignments.

Lone workers will be provided with appropriate supervision, opportunities to raise concerns, access to training and access to wellbeing support. Reasonable adjustments will be made where required for disabled workers and for workers with health conditions, in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.

Following any distressing, violent, abusive or traumatic incident, {{org_field_name}} will consider what immediate and longer-term support is appropriate, including debriefing, review of future assignments and referral to support services where needed.

10. Non-Compliance & Disciplinary Action

Failure to adhere to the lone working policy may result in disciplinary action. Employees are expected to take reasonable care of their own safety and cooperate with safety measures implemented by the organisation.

11. Related Policies

This policy should be read in conjunction with:

• Health & Safety Policy
• Risk Assessment Procedure
• Incident Reporting Procedure
• Safeguarding Policy
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy
• Anti-Harassment and Bullying Policy
• Whistleblowing Policy
• Data Protection and Confidentiality Policy
• Infection Prevention and Control Policy (where relevant)
• Business Continuity / Emergency Planning Procedure
• Any client, hirer or assignment-specific lone working and site safety procedures

12. Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed at least annually and earlier where there is:

any identified gap in implementation or effectiveness.

a change in legislation, statutory guidance or HSE guidance;

a serious incident, trend, near miss or complaint indicating that review is required;

a material change in working practices, staffing model, service delivery, client profile or assignment type; or

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Responsible Person: {{org_field_registered_manager_first_name}} {{org_field_registered_manager_last_name}}
Reviewed on: {{last_update_date}}
Next Review Date: {{next_review_date}}
Copyright © {{current_year}} – {{org_field_name}}. All rights reserved.