Lone working by sector

In this article, we will explain the laws and responsibilities employers have around lone working, how unions can help keep lone workers safe, and what trade unions should look out for when working with lone worker solutions.

An uptick in hybrid and flexible work has left many office buildings at reduced capacity, with many office workers adjusting to working by themselves for the first time.

In this article, we’ll look at what is causing this new concern around office lone working, and what rights office workers have when working alone.

Lone working in engineering may mean being alone inside a workshop, working in someone else’s home or business, or out in the public sphere. Engineers’ highly practical, often machine-focused roles can put them at higher risk of injury, and so it’s important to explore how and when it is safe to work alone.

Common risks affecting council employees might be aggression from clients, or accidental injuries in remote and high-risk areas. In these situations, it’s important that staff members have the right training, protection and support.

For those that drive for a living –whether it involves buses, vans, cars, HGVs, trains or even bikes– it may be completely unremarkable to work alone for hours on end.

Health and safety is part of the job for people working in the security sector. In many cases, a security worker is working to protect people and property, but their own safety is also of vital importance.

Housing associations employ an estimated 148,000 people in the UK, many of whom are lone workers delivering essential services.

The social care sector employs a vast amount of lone workers in the UK. Whether working in care homes, community settings, or in the homes of their service users, care workers will often spend some or all of their workday alone, or in small teams.

The health and safety challenges facing lone workers in agriculture are many. That’s why we’ve built, what Farmers Weekly called, “A simple piece of software that can save lives”.

An introduction to the oil and gas industry The oil and gas industry has long played an important role in the UK economy, helping power

An introduction to lone working in the construction sector The UK’s construction industry accounts for £110 billion of annual output and around 10% of all

An introduction to the utility sector Water, gas and electricity organisations supply and maintain essential services for more than 28 million residential homes and businesses

In introduction to estate agents and the housing market In 2021 The UK estate agent market was valued at around £11 billion . It also

An introduction to the charity sector As of December 2022, over 1.2 million people were employed by charities in England and Wales. For every one

An introduction to lone working in forestry As of 2022, it was estimated that there are 3.24 million hectares of woodland in the UK: 13%

Why is lone working important to the manufacturing industry? To answer that, it is important to first understand the scale of the topic. Manufacturing is

In sectors such as security, transport, health and social care, retail, hospitality, cleaning, and maintenance, the risk of working alone can combine with the risks

An introduction to lone working in retail Many retail workers spend some or all of their time working alone. Our first thoughts might go to

An introduction to lone working in renewables Many workers in the renewable energy sector will spend at least some of their time working alone. A

In this article, we’ll look at some of the fundamental risks associated with the aviation industry, how risks are changing, and how these tie in to lone working.