Risks and Mitigations of Lone Worker Safety in 2025

Employees who work alone often face a unique and disparate set of risks. 

That’s because lone workers often have to change job sites and situations, making pinning down risks and hazards tricky.

However, every business with lone workers must do its utmost to identify the main risks its lone workers are likely to face and implement appropriate procedures to keep them safe.

Below, we look at the main risks and what employers can do to help employees negotiate dangerous lone-worker environments.

The Main Risks

As we have noted, given the diverse nature of lone work it can be difficult to nail down where lone worker risk lies for a business.

However, the UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has identified four broad categories of lone worker risk.  

They are:

  • Violence in the workplace: According to recent figures from the Crime Survey England and Wales (CSEW), in 2022/23 there were a reported 649,000 violent workplace incidents.
  • Stress and mental health: Lone work can be lonely and impact the mental well-being of workers.
  • Medical suitability: Some employees have an existing medical condition (epilepsy, for example) that makes them unsuited for lone work.
  • The workplace itself: Rural, isolated and hostile environments increase the risks associated with a job simply because the lone worker carries out his tasks at a distance from colleagues and the emergency services.

Mitigation

It’s not just good practice to protect lone workers, but the law.

The main bits of legislation – Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 – lay out how employers should act to identify hazards and mitigate lone worker risk.

The main ways an employer can mitigate lone-work risk are:

 

  • Risk assessment: Employers must assess all health and safety risks, including those associated with lone working. 
  • Record keeping: If a company has more than five employees, it must keep a permanent record of its risk assessment and outline how it plans to manage and mitigate the risks it has identified. 
  • Safety Equipment: Employers should use appropriate safety equipment and technology to protect lone workers – and, just as importantly, train staff to use all safety equipment.
  • Reporting: Employers must report accidents and emergencies arising from lone work. 

Technology 

Lone-worker safety has come a long way since the days of walkie-talkies and basic personal alarms. 

Today there are limitless options when it comes to lone-worker safety devices.

A lone-worker safety specialist such as ANT Telecom offers a range of lone-worker tools, including lone-worker apps and ATEX handsets.

Apps are ideal if the worker uses a mobile device while out of the job. Such apps often feature True Man Down detection and always-on-top SOS buttons.

If network reception is patchy, a handheld ATEX device might be more appropriate to ensure the lone worker has a robust communication connection with colleagues.

Conclusion

The stats show that more and more workers are being asked to do at least part of their jobs without a colleague in tow.

As such, lone-worker safety should be top of mind for all employers.

Lone worker risk can’t be eradicated but, with the appropriate policies and technology, it can certainly be managed and mitigated.

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