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Care workers, shop workers, maintenance workers, most jobs, can require people to be left alone and isolated. It can be dangerous. Workers have been murdered. Health, postal, emergency and shop workers are frequently attacked. Injured workers have been undiscovered for hours.

Call 0800 066 99 07 and get our personal injury team working for you straight away. The call is free, the advice is free and nothing will ever be deducted from your compensation.

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, eg visitors, such as contractors and self-employed people who employers may engage. These responsibilities remain in place for both distance workers and people who work at home.

There are no specific legal duties on employers in relation to lone working, however the general duty of employers to maintain safe working arrangements under the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act applies.

It is the employer’s duty to assess risks to lone workers and take steps to avoid or control risk where necessary. Of course employees have responsibilities to take reasonable care of themselves and other people affected by their work and should co-operate with their employers in meeting their legal obligations.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines lone workers are "those who work by themselves without close or direct supervision." Three broad groups of workers are at risk, those:

• working alone on site;
• working away from base;
• homeworkers.

Under the Employers Liability (Compulsory) Insurance (ELCI) Act 1969 most employers are required by law to insure their employees against workplace injury or disease. This includes lone workers and home workers who enjoy equal cover against employer negligence with those working in the employer's workplace.

Safe working arrangements for lone workers

Establishing safe working for lone workers is no different from organising the safety of other employees. Employers need to know the law and standards which apply to their work activities and then assess whether the requirements can be met by people working alone.

Lone workers face particular problems. Some of the issues which need special attention when planning safe working arrangements are:

• supervisors periodically visiting and observing people working alone to ensure safe working practices;
• regular contact between the lone worker and supervision using either a telephone or radio;
• automatic warning devices which operate if specific signals are not received periodically from the lone worker, eg systems for security staff;
• other devices designed to raise the alarm in the event of an emergency and which are operated manually or automatically by the absence of activity;
• checks that a lone worker has returned to their base or home on completion of a task.

Lone workers should be capable of responding correctly to emergencies

• Your employer's risk assessment should identify foreseeable events.
• Emergency procedures should be established and you should be trained in them.
• Information about emergency procedures and danger areas should be given to lone workers.
• Lone workers should have access to adequate first-aid facilities and mobile workers should carry a first-aid kit suitable for treating minor injuries.
• Occasionally risk assessment may indicate that lone workers need training in first aid.

Lone workers enjoy the same legal protection as any other employee. If you are a home worker or a lone worker injurywatch.co.uk's free legal helpdesk is always a good place to start.

As always, gather the evidence:

• see a doctor -the effect of your injuries might be obvious in most cases, but injuries don't always show up straight away
• keep a dossier. Include a diary recording all the details of the incident, who you saw and all the expenses or losses you incurred, including receipts
• record the details of the incident - take photographs of the site (with a ruler to show the scale and signed and dated on the back)
• gather personal details of anyone who witnessed the incident
• gather information (backed up by witness statements from others) as to all the circumstances.
• note and detail any measures (such as signage) which had been taken to warn of or otherwise diminish the risk
• note and detail any circumstances which exacerbated the risk