Lone Worker Assessments

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines a lone worker as:

"Someone who works by themselves without close or direct supervision". 

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 mandates that employers think about workplace hazards in the form of a health and Safety risk assessment and provides employers with a statutory duty to control or reduce the risks to health and safety in the workplace. The law requires that employers consider and manage any health and safety to those who work alone. 

It is advisable and good practice that workers who work alone are medically assessed for fitness to work. The purpose of a lone worker health assessment is to ensure a worker does not have any medical condition which could expose them to a higher degree of risk while working alone i.e. heart condition, epilepsy etc. This will in turn help employers’ meet their statutory health and safety obligations.

A lone worker questionnaire takes an employee about 10 minutes to complete. Their answers will then be reviewed by an occupational health advisor who will issue a fitness-to-work certificate.

If any of the answers given highlight any areas of concern about the employee’s fitness then a referral for an  occupational health advisor follow-up telephone call will be made.