Working alone policy

A working alone policy is the document that sets out how an organisation identifies lone-work situations, controls their risks, and maintains contact with workers who are alone.

A working alone policy answers four questions in writing: who counts as working alone (including brief and incidental periods), what risks each lone-work situation carries, what controls apply (from scheduling and buddy arrangements to monitored duress systems), and how contact is maintained - check-in cadence, escalation steps, and who does what when contact is lost.

Regulators in Australia, New Zealand and the UK all expect lone-work risk to be assessed and controlled under general duty-of-care law, and a written policy is the evidence that it was. The policy is also where response expectations become measurable: 'check in every two hours' and 'escalate after 15 minutes of no contact' are auditable in a way 'stay in touch' never is.

A policy without a working mechanism behind it is paper. The check-in cadence needs a system that actually escalates when a check-in is missed, and the duress procedure needs an alarm that actually gets answered. That is where monitored systems fit: they make the policy self-enforcing.

Common questions

What should a working alone policy include?

Definitions of lone work, a risk assessment per situation, the controls in place, check-in and escalation procedures with named responsibilities, the duress and emergency procedure, training requirements, and a review cycle. A free template is available in the Duress template library.

Is a working alone policy a legal requirement?

The policy document itself is generally not named in legislation, but the underlying duty is: employers must assess and control the risks of lone and isolated work. A written policy is the standard way to demonstrate that duty was met. This is general information, not legal advice.

Working alone policy

Common questions

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