I am looking for your experiences on managing employees who are lone/remote workers. We have around 110 staff who are service engineers who enter into customer premises on their own (customer present) to carry out service work. They are provided with a company vehicle and drive alone to each customers premises. On an adverage day they drive around 150 miles.

Are they classed as lone workers? Has anyone experienced anything simular and what controls did you put in place to ensure safety?

Thanks

It’s actually up to you whether you class them as lone workers or not and what if any additional precautions are need.

Some would argue that they are not if there are other people about who could provide assistance. For example, I drive between our various different sites, during the day, on roads that are reasonably ‘populated’. If something ‘goes wrong’ then I have a reasonable expectation that others will render me with some assistance. In reality, this is what tends to happen. Am I a ‘lone worker’? I am clearly on my own in the car, but there are plenty of other people about. Is the risk significantly greater because I am driving on my own rather than having someone ‘ride shotgun’? In many cases I suggest not.

While you can put in place various procedures and ‘lone worker’ devices, in many cases lone workers WILL nevertheless potentially be at greater risk than if they weren’t lone working. The risk still needs to be managed SOFARP but I suggest that sometimes the risk is inevitably and unavoidably greater.

I agree with canopener.

In the situation described there may not be any significant lone working risks. On the other hand there might be if the work really needs two people to do it safely or if there is a need for first aid cover or a rescue plan that the customer doesn't provide, or if the customers are aggrieved domestic customers who may turn violent.

There is no legal requirement to reduce the risks to the same level as if they weren't working alone (reasonable practicability is all there is here) although that may be the policy in Peter's organisation.