Lone but never alone: A guide to supporting lone worker health and safety
Who are lone workers?
A lone worker is anyone who works completely by themselves. This could mean that lone workers are totally isolated with no one around them or just out of sight and sound of their co-workers.
- Examples of lone worker jobs:
- Delivery and truck drivers
- Field service technicians
- Janitors and cleaners
- Social workers
- Home health care providers
- Law enforcement and security guards
- Utility and construction workers
- Forestry and agricultural workers
- Gas station and retail clerks
Lone work by the numbers
A 2021 Verdantix report estimated that 15% of the U.S. workforce are lone workers, equivalent to more than 25 million individuals. The National Safety Council recently released a white paper on lone workers, stating that “nearly 70% of organizations [in a 2021 survey] reported a safety incident involving someone working by themselves in the past three years, and 1 in 5 of these incidents were described as 'quite or very severe.'” In high-risk industries, lone workers are two to three times more likely to suffer serious injury or death.
The most common hazards to lone workers are:
- Medical emergencies
- Workplace violence
- Slips, trips, falls
- Environmental exposure
- Accidents with equipment or tools
- Fatigue and mental health issues
Tips for employers: Protecting your lone workers
- Have clear procedures if a worker can’t be contacted and define response timelines for whom to notify after different intervals of time.
- Establish a lone worker policy about how lone workers operate safely.
- Explore SAIF’s leadership series, which provides information on how to conduct risk assessments, hazard identification, and other training resources.
- Consider issuing work phones or safety devices that work without internet connection for workers in remote locations.
- Implement a check-in, check-out system, either manual or automated.
- Provide annual trainings for both emergency response and hazard awareness.
- Encourage a culture of reporting for everything! Near misses, hazards, and concerns should all be reported with proper documentation.
Tips for employees: Staying safe on the job
- Know your risks and stay alert.
- Always check in before, during, and after a shift.
- Keep your phone or safety device charged and within reach.
- Stay trained in first aid, hazard identification, and emergency response.
- Trust your instincts and report something if it feels unsafe.
Lone worker safety tools to consider
- Lone worker safety apps
- Wearable alarms and GPS trackers
- Two-way radios or push-to-talk devices
- Cameras or sensors in high-risk areas
Summary
Safety doesn’t take a break even when you’re working solo. With the right strategies and tools, employers and employees can build a safety system that protects everyone, everywhere, no matter what.
For more on this topic, visit our lone worker safety page.