Lone and mobile workers

• petrol stations, kiosks, shops and other examples where only one person may be working on the premises (particularly at night);
• their own home;
• factories, warehouses, leisure centres and fairgrounds (places where there are other people working but they can’t be immediately heard or seen);
• outside normal hours (usually cleaners, security, facilities management staff or contractors conducting special tasks better done at this time);
• farms, woodland and other unpopulated areas;
• in vehicles or on other forms of transport, such as trains, travelling between locations;
• at the roadside assisting motorists (breakdown repairers and recovery operators) or carrying out maintenance work (e.g. road sweeping); and
• customers’ homes (delivering post and parcels, collecting rent, providing home help or fulfilling a service, such as plumbing, decorating or cleaning).

Some health and safety regulations prohibit or place restrictions on lone working in some scenarios.

• If the worker is a child or young person, they can’t work during certain hours (e.g. at night) alone (or at all).
• A young person under training, e.g. on certain types of plant and machinery, must always be supervised.
• When entering certain confined spaces, rescue or recovery considerations that require an additional person to be present will apply.
• The transport of explosives or dangerous goods, including the unloading of petrol tankers, cannot be done alone.