Lone Workers & Health & Safety Legislation
A lone worker is defined by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as those who work by themselves without close or direct supervision. Examples include:-
• Sales & Service engineers
• Estate agents and insurance staff
• Electrical engineers
• Environment Inspectors
• Bus driver
• Personnel consultants
• Educational psychologists
• Employees serving court papers
• Community midwives
• Police officers
• Community mental health staff
• Council housing services staff
• Security guards
• Customer service officers
• Taxi driver
• Shop workers
• Social workers / personal care assistants
• Window cleaners
• Claims inspectors and financial advisors
To download a copy of the Health and Safety Executive guide on “Working alone in safety” please click on the following link HSEWAS
Employers have responsibilities for the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees and the health and safety of those affected by the work.
Current legislation relating to the Health and safety of employees is derived from the following Acts:-
Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) and the Management of Health and Safety at Work (MHSW) Regulations 1999 requires employers to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, the health & safety of employees whilst at work and includes work related journeys.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 (updated in 1999) states that employers have a responsibility to carry out assessments of risk to the health & safety of employees whilst they are at work and to the people who may be affected by their work activities. Driving on company business constitutes a work activity.
On 6th April 2008 the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act became law. This new Act means that senior management within an organisation, whose gross corporate failures in health and safety lead to the death of individuals can be prosecuted and face an unlimited fine, remedial order and be required to publicise their conviction and remedial order. Without sufficient measures in place, many organisations may find that they are exposed to serious penalties when the bill comes into force.
These require identifying hazards of the work, assessing the risks involved, and putting measures in place to avoid or control the risks.
It is the employer’s duty to assess risks to lone workers and take steps to avoid or control risk where necessary.
Lone workers should not be at more risk than other employees.
HSE defines violence as:
'Any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work'
This can include verbal abuse or threats as well as physical attacks.
The two main sources of data on the British working population are reports made to HSE or local authorities under the
• Reporting of Injuries under the Reporting of Injuries, Disease and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR)
• British Crime Survey (BCS)
• In addition, the 2006 Workplace Health and Safety Survey series (WHASS) also provides some useful data on violence at work from an employer and employee perspective
• There were 6252 RIDDOR reported injuries caused by violence at work during the financial year 2004/05.
• 146 076 other injuries to employees were reported under RIDDOR, a rate of 562.4 per 100 000 employees.
• Estimates from the 2004/05 British Crime Survey (BCS) indicated that there were approximately 339,000 threats of violence and 317,000 physical assaults by members of the public on British workers.
• Physical attacks can cause anxiety and distress, and in more serious cases, pain, disability or even death. The provisional figure for the number of workers fatally injured in 2006/07 is 241.
• 42% of those assaulted reported any resulting injury and 30% of these suffered minor bruising or a black eye.
