Lone Working Rights and Responsibilities
Yes, it is not against the law to work alone, and for many employees it is safe to do so.
“It will often be safe to work alone. However, the law requires you to think about and deal with any health and safety risks before people are allowed to do so”.
Employers have a Duty of Care to ensure their workers are ‘reasonably safe’ and put measures in place to satisfy this. This also extends to contractors and self-employed people doing work for your business.
Although there is no specific law related to lone working, general health and safety legislation must be complied with:
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007
Health & Safety Offences Act 2008
Download our health and safety legislation guide
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 sets out the general health and safety duties of employers and employees ‘so far as is reasonably practicable’ – meaning putting in place policies and procedures that mitigate risks that can be foreseen in advance.
Employer Responsibilities
Employers are legally responsible for ensuring employees are reasonably safe, meaning they must control the risks of injury or ill-health. This responsibility cannot be transferred or delegated to the employee themselves.
It is also the responsibility of the employers to check that employees do not have any conditions that make lone working an unsuitable risk.
Under health and safety legislation, employers of lone workers must do five things:
Complete a full risk assessment
Make sure the job can be done safely by one person
Train supervise and monitor lone workers
Keep in touch
Respond to incidents
Employee Responsibilities
Employees have a responsibility to cooperate with employers to ensure their own safety and not take any unnecessary risks. This includes following procedures and reporting potential health and safety risks to the organisation.
Take a look at our fact sheet on lone working rights and responsibilities:
