Free lone working risk assessment template (Word download)
Plenty of trades work alone — first fix in an empty house, a call-out at a client's premises, an evening finishing a job on site. This template records the risks of working alone and how you make sure someone would know if something went wrong.
Download the lone working risk assessment template (.docx)
[DISCLAIMER — DRAFT, FOR SOLICITOR REVIEW] This template is a starting point only. You are responsible for assessing the risks of your own work, and for making sure any document you produce from it is suitable and sufficient for the task, the site and the people involved. It is not health and safety advice.
What's in the template
- Document control
- Lone working activity — what, where, when and for how long
- Can working alone be avoided?
- Assessment of risk factors — location, task, person, people and emergencies
- Risk rating — before and after controls, on a 5 × 5 scale
- Contact and monitoring — check-ins and what happens if one is missed
- Control measures
- Emergency arrangements
- Training
- Briefing record — sign-off sheet
Is working alone allowed?
There is no general legal ban on working alone. Employers must assess the risks to people who work alone, as they would for any other work, and put controls in place. Some work is too risky to do alone — for example work in confined spaces or near exposed live electrical conductors — and should always have more than one person present. The HSE publishes guidance on protecting lone workers (INDG73).
The check-in system is the heart of it
The biggest danger in working alone is that nobody knows when something has gone wrong. A good check-in system answers four questions:
- How does the person check in — call, text, app or lone worker device?
- How often?
- Who do they check in with?
- What happens, and how fast, if a check-in is missed?
Test it before relying on it, and check mobile signal at the location — a check-in system that depends on a phone is no use in a basement with no reception.
Tasks to keep off the lone worker's list
- Work at height beyond short, low-risk ladder tasks
- Work on or near live electrical systems
- Confined spaces
- Hot works
- Heavy or awkward lifts that need two people
Record lone working as a hazard in your RAMS and reference this assessment there.
Answer a few questions about the job and get a completed RAMS in Word, ready to send.
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