Lone working is a situation that affects many employees and sectors of activity. In France, according to INRS (French National Research and Safety Institute for the Prevention of Occupational Accidents and Diseases), almost 3 million people experience lone work situations.
While any employee can be exposed to occupational risks, lone working is in fact an aggravating factor and a source of danger.
The specific nature of lone working requires the implementation of safety measures and systems adapted to these activities. However, in order to implement safety and prevention measures, the employer must analyze the various situations in which a worker could find himself in a lone-working situation.
While employers are generally responsible for the health and safety of their employees at work, certain legal obligations and measures apply specifically to lone working situations. A good understanding of the risks for lone workers is therefore essential.
In this article, we explain various aspects of lone working:
– Work accidents in France linked to lone working situations
– The risks and dangers of lone working
– The impact of being isolated on the consequences of an accident
– Measures to be put in place to deal with these hazards
Work-related accident figures in France
In 2023, there were 555,000 work-related accidents with lost time or incapacity in France, including 759 fatalities, according to the annual report by Assurance Maladie – Risques Professionnels.
Isolated work represents a significant proportion of serious or fatal accidents. In fact, according to INRS, 10% of fatal workplace accidents involved lone workers.
Furthermore, a survey by the Caisse Centrale de la Mutualité Sociale Agricole (MSA) in 2019 found that over 40% of serious but non-fatal occupational accidents occurred when the worker was alone.
Lone work therefore requires great vigilance on the part of employers and EHS managers due to the risks and dangers faced by lone workers. It is important to understand how to identify these risk situations, and how to implement appropriate preventive measures.
Risky situations for lone workers
Lone workers face different types of risks during their activities:
– Physical risks directly linked to the tasks performed (handling, manipulation of hazardeous tools or products, etc.).
– Risks related to the work environment (climate conditions such as extreme heat or cold, as well as presence of toxic products, gases, etc.).
– Medical risks (discomfort), which can be worsened by the worker’s isolation, as treatment is delayed accordingly.
– Risks linked to the work organization itself (absence of a supervisor nearby, intervention in confined spaces, etc.).
Let’s look in more detail at the different types of risk faced by workers:
Physical risks for a lone worker
Physical risks affect lone workers as much as others. However, as in the case of medical risks, physical risks can be accentuated in the case of lone workers. The absence of colleagues or supervisors nearby to alert emergency services in the event of an incident can turn a minor accident into a potentially serious situation.
Among the most common risks are :
– falls: which can be quite common in environments such as construction sites, working at height or on scaffoldings
– cuts and injuries that a lone worker may experience, especially if there is no immediate supervision nearby.
Risks associated with the work environment
In addition to the risks associated with the activity performed, the work environment itself can be a source of danger. Here are just a few examples:
– confined spaces: working in silos, tanks or tunnels presents risks of asphyxiation or poisoning.
– working at height: working on high structures such as pylons, roofs or scaffolding increases the risk of serious falls.
– exposure to hazardous substances: contact with chemicals or toxic materials without the possibility of rapid intervention can have severe consequences.
– climatic conditions in the workplace: in some industries, workers may have to cope with extreme heat (as in the steel industry) or, on the contrary, with low temperatures, for instance in cold rooms in the food industry.
– Isolated workers may also face the risk of aggression in certain environments, notably in the retail and service sectors.
Medical risks
Like any other employee, the lone worker can face medical risks in the workplace. A worker could, for example, suffer a stroke or heart attack. Isolated working accentuates these risks for employees who are not in the direct proximity of other employees capable of alerting emergency services in the event of an incident. As a matter of fact, in many cases, the response time is crucial to the worker’s health. That’s why the risk is greater for lone workers than for other employees.
Some of the most common medical problems encountered in the workplace, which can be exacerbated by lone working situations, include the following:
– Heart attacks, which, when they occur in an isolated working environment, can be fatal without rapid intervention by emergency services.
– Cardiovascular arrest, which, like a heart attack, can be fatal if assistance is not provided quickly.
– Fainting can also have serious consequences, depending on the worker’s environment (presence of toxic gas in the environment, dangerous weather conditions, etc.).
Increased risks for lone workers if an incident occurs
Isolated work requires great vigilance by employers in terms of work organization and safety protocols. Indeed, isolation is a situation that accentuates the risks for a worker and can worsen the consequences of an incident if care is delayed.
Here are a few figures from scientific studies on the links between delayed care and medical consequences of a incident:
– 15 minutes of additional delay results in a loss of 1 month’s life expectancy, in the case of a cerebrovascular accident (CVA).
– 30 minutes of additional delay increases the one-year mortality risk of a myocardial infarction by 7.5%
– 50% lower mortality rate if intensive care is started within the first few hours, in the case of 2nd or 3rd degree burns.
In this respect, the implementation of a high-performance man down alarm system is essential to ensure the protection of workers on a site, and to guarantee appropriate and effective measures in the event of an incident.
It should also be noted that a situation of isolation is in fact a source of risk, as studies carried out by INRS have shown. Indeed, isolation can contribute to the development of risky work practices by the lone worker, in the absence of feedback on his or her methods. In the absence of nearby staff or supervisors, employees may take inappropriate or ill-advised initiatives and put themselves at risk. As a result, non-compliance with safety practices may go undetected.
Measures to be put in place to ensure the safety of lone workers
Risk assessment
The first step in ensuring the protection of lone workers is a thorough analysis of work situations where an employee may find himself alone. An employee does not have to be isolated for long or on a regular basis to be considered in a lone-worker situation. A task performed alone, lasting only a few minutes, may suffice to qualify as lone work.
In this respect, employers must take care to identify all possible situations of isolation and adapt their work organization to limit such cases. All situations and risks identified must be recorded and listed in the company’s Professional risks evaluation (DUERP in French).
Implementing appropriate prevention and safety measures for lone workers
Once risks have been identified, employers must put in place prevention and safety measures adapted to this type of work. It is important to emphasize that these measures must first and foremost prevent any risks that may arise. This means that preventive action must be taken for each risk identified in the Professional Risk Evaluation.
This section is absolutely crucial, as isolation implies de facto risks for the worker. Isolation is rarely perceived as a risk factor in itself by companies. Lone working is seen more as a factor aggravating damage in the event of an incident, rather than as the source of risks. As a result, preventive measures are sometimes neglected in favor of rescue and alarm measures upon occurence of an incident.
So implementing measures is not just a matter of setting up systems to detect and warn of accidents. It is also about preventing incidents in the first place. That’s why SYSNAV has developed a lone worker alarm system capable of detecting risky situations, as we are convinced that the role of such a system is also to anticipate risks in order to minimize the consequences and damage of an incident.
Preventive measures can include :
-Reconfiguration of the production area
-Work reorganization
-The installation of specific devices for prevention or warning in the event of an incident, such as man down systems.
In this respect, SYSNAV’s Lone Worker alarm system is a good compromise, as it not only provides a warning in the event of an incident, but also acts as a preventive measure by detecting risky situations (for more information, see SYSNAV’s Lone Worker Alarm page).
Employee training and information
To ensure the effectiveness of the measures put in place, teams must communicate clearly and consistently with all employees. This involves reviewing the risks associated with the site’s activity and the safety procedures to be applied in the event of an incident. Risks specific to isolation must be highlighted in this context. Employees will also need to be trained in the tools and protocols in place to ensure team responsiveness in the event of a problem.
Conclusion on risk prevention for lone workers
Isolated work requires special attention from EHS managers and top management. Isolated work conditions can worsen the damage and consequences of an accident, in addition to being a source of risk in their own way.
A detailed risk assessment is crucial to identify and mitigate potential hazards associated with working in isolation. This step is not only a legal requirement in many countries, but also an essential practice to ensure the safety of workers and the smooth running of a facility.
For more information on our Man down Alarm : SYSNAV’s Lone Worker solution
More information on lone working and Lone Worker Solution
– Man down device and Lone Worker Protection System – What are they? How to choose them ?