Employers have a duty of care to protect their employees from harm. In some environments, no matter how stringent the risk assessment or safety measures put in place, the risk is too great to allow for lone working. So when is working alone not okay?
For many organisations, lone working increases productivity, and flexibility and reduces cost, without posing additional safety threats to staff.
However, there have sadly been several situations of lone working in recent years that have led to disaster. In 2006, mental health worker Ashleigh Ewing was stabbed to death by a client in his home, and in 2013, Andrew Locovou was murdered by a customer while single-manning a betting shop late in the evening. Following these tragedies, it has since been ruled that the organisations involved should have conducted more stringent risk assessments and lone working should not have been permitted.
So how can you assess when it’s OK to allow lone working – and when it’s not? This article will discuss the risks and hazards of lone working and take a look at different situations where lone working may be considered unsafe.
Lone working is when work activities are carried out without the direct and immediate support of supervisors or colleagues. To put it simply, if an employee cannot be seen or heard by a colleague, they are lone working, whether that is for all or part of their working day.
An isolated worker is another way to describe a lone worker. According the Government of Western Australia; “a worker can be isolated from other persons by the time, location or nature of the work. ‘Isolated’ usually refers to a person who is alone in any place as part of their work”.
It is not against the law to work alone in Australia. Working alone is completely legal and in most cases, it's safe to do so. However, a risk assessment should be carried out on lone working activities so employers can assess and mitigate any potential dangers to their staff.
Each territory has its own Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws and its own regulator to enforce them. The WHS framework for each state includes: Act – outlines broad responsibilities. Regulations – sets out specific requirements for particular hazards and risks, such as noise, machinery, and manual handling. Codes of practice – provides practical information on how you can meet the requirements in the Act and Regulations. Regulating agency – administers WHS laws, inspects workplaces, provides advice and enforces the laws Although each state has variations, each territory must adhere to their Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH) or Work Health and Safety Act (WHS). Details of each can be found here. OSH and WHS Acts in Australia by territory:
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OHS), along with the Work Health and Safety Act (WHS) are the legislations that govern Work Health and Safety practices in Australia. Each territory has their own version, but each covers similar guidance to ensure a balanced and consistent framework for health and safety practices in their area. The OSH Act applies to Victoria (2004) and Western Australia (1984). According to the Australian Government website; “Work Health and Safety (WHS) – sometimes called Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) – involves the management of risks to the health and safety of everyone in your workplace. This includes the health and safety of anyone who does work for you as well as your customers, visitors and suppliers. Not taking action could also result in prosecution, fines and loss of your skilled staff”.
As with the OSH Acts, the Workplace Health and Safety Acts (WHS) are there to provide a balanced and nationally consistent framework to secure the health and safety of workers and workplaces. A variation of the WHS Act applies to all states except for Victoria and Western Australia, where it is called the Occupational and Health Act (OHS).
Safe Work Australia develops policies for Work Health and Safety and workers’ compensation – helping to improve WHS across Australia. Safe Work Australia does not regulate or enforce WHS laws. State and territory governments regulate and enforce the health and safety laws in their jurisdiction.
A lone working employee is still subject to all the requirements stated within the WHS and OSH Acts relevant to their state. As working alone can put an employee at higher risk due to not being under direct supervision in an emergency, it is especially important to ensure that any lone workers are risk assessed, provided with adequate safety equipment and communicated with regularly. Section 3.3 of the Occupational Safety and Health Regulations (1996) requires that: Isolated employees have communication for emergencies. If an employee is isolated from other persons because of the time, location or nature of the work then the employer must ensure that — (a) there is a means of communication available which will enable the employee to call for help in the event of an emergency, and (b) there is a procedure for regular contact to be made with the employee and the employee is trained in the procedure. Alongside this, employers should also implement their own regulations to help ensure the safety of their lone workers. These could include:
WorkSafe Queensland has produced a video that covers the issues facing lone and isolated workers.
Employers can legally require one person to work overnight alone. Security guards regularly monitor buildings alone throughout the night, whilst other roles such as hotel receptionists or petrol station attendants may work alone out of hours. Employees who work in these roles may be seen as easy targets for threats, such as theft or violence, and extra precautions should be put in place.
It is legal for an apprentice to work alone if it is safe to do so. Employers have the same responsibilities to apprentices as they do any other employee. Therefore, they hold primary responsibility for the health and safety of the apprentice and are required to carry out risk assessments and manage any potential threats.
Working alone in a factory is also allowed. However, the job role being carried out alone in the factory should be taken into consideration. For example, if operating machinery, you must ensure it is suitable for one person to do this alone. You should also take into consideration how an alarm can be raised in an emergency and what the response time is likely to be.
Working alone in a shop is common practice. Extra safety measures should be taken, however, as lone shop workers can become easy targets for robberies and other crimes. A risk assessment must also be carried out and consider the local crime rates, employee training levels and what emergency procedures are in place.
According to Safe Work Australia, remote or isolated workers may be isolated from help because of where or when they are working, or the nature of the work they are doing. “For example, they may be working in locations or at times where it would be difficult for them to be rescued, get medical assistance or be reached by emergency services. Workers may face additional WHS risks if nobody else is around to help with difficult tasks, alert them to hazards or give a second opinion about how to safely do a task or notice if they are fatigued or making mistakes”.
Certain environments also increase the risk to employees, particularly those in which customers may become upset, aggressive or take advantage of a lone worker. Environments where alcohol, gambling and/or money are involved, as well as sensitive social work, can cause sudden mood changes and hostile behaviour. Utility workers often operate in rural areas, underground or with dangerous machinery and face environmental risks.
If an accident were to happen, they may not be able to call for help. Similarly, staff who travel to different locations as part of their role may not be able to notify managers should an accident happen whilst on the road. In some environments, no matter how stringent the risk assessment or safety measures put in place, the risk is too great to allow for lone working. So, how can an employer reduce the risk for people who work alone?
The first and most important step in determining whether your employees are safe to work alone is carrying out a thorough risk assessment for each employee/environment as appropriate. If the risks identified through the process are too high or uncontrollable, you must not let your employees work alone under any circumstance. If, however, steps can be taken to reduce risk to a controllable level, in line with legislation, it may be safe to allow your employees to work alone, following the implementation of a lone worker policy.
A lone worker policy is a guide that sets out your company’s rules on working alone and helps your employees to understand the risks of their role. It also provides your staff with practical advice and instruction on how to safely carry out their roles and what procedures to follow should an incident occur. A regular review of both your risk assessments and lone worker policy will help you identify whether your lone workers are safe. You may also wish to carry out inspections to ensure safe work practices are being followed.
Being able to monitor your employee’s whereabouts is extremely important in keeping them safe, as accidents can occur at any time. Regular communications should be maintained with lone working staff and procedures put in place so that employees can quickly communicate with their employer and raise the alarm if needed.
Manual methods of monitoring can be time-consuming, unreliable and often include a large amount of paperwork. Significant advances in mobile technology have led many companies to switch to app-based lone worker solutions to help them monitor and protect their remote staff.
Our easy-to-use app and online monitoring hub that offers a way for lone workers to raise an alarm in a dangerous situation. The app monitors the location of lone workers in real time via the Lone Worker Hub so that assistance can be sent directly to an employee in an emergency. Before a period of lone work or travel, employees start a timed session on the app which can be viewed by a monitor on the cloud-based hub.
If an employee fails to end their lone working session safely, a session expiry alert will be sent to their employer or chosen monitor. The app features check-in reminders which prompt users to check in routinely to confirm that they are safe. If a worker finds themselves in a dangerous situation, they can trigger a panic alert and help can be quickly dispatched to their location.