Lone working in Ireland: employer duties and risk assessment

If one of your employees works alone, whether in a back office, on a site visit or in a client's home, the law in Ireland does not treat them differently from anyone else: you must still ensure their safety, health and welfare so far as is reasonably practicable. What changes is the risk assessment, because being alone can remove the help, supervision and escape routes that other staff take for granted. This guide explains what the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and Health and Safety Authority (HSA) guidance say about lone working in Ireland, and how a Dublin employer can turn that into a practical routine.

What the Act requires of every employer

The Revised Acts text of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 (shown as updated to 9 April 2026) starts from a general duty in section 8: every employer must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of employees. That duty includes managing and conducting work activities so that this is achieved. Section 12 extends a duty to other people at the place of work, so that individuals who are not employees are not exposed to risks from your work activities.

Section 19 requires you to identify the hazards in the place of work under your control and to carry out a written risk assessment. The risk assessment must be reviewed where there has been a significant change or there is another reason to believe it is no longer valid, and it must then be amended as appropriate. Section 20 requires a written safety statement based on that assessment, and the statement must be brought to employees' attention at least annually, on amendment and when new employees start. Our guide to the safety statement and risk assessment requirements covers those two sections in more detail.

Employees have their own duty under section 13, including taking reasonable care to protect their own safety, health and welfare and that of others. That duty does not move your responsibility onto the worker. The HSA's lone working guidance says employer duties "cannot be transferred to any other person, including those who work alone."

What the sources say about lone working specifically

The Act does not use lone working as a defined term, and the guidance below is where the HSA sets out its approach. The HSA publishes lone working guidance (Guidance on Managing the Risk of Lone Working in the Health and Social Care Sector). It carries no publication date in its text and states that it is not intended as a legal interpretation of the legislation. It is written for health and social care, so treat it as the HSA's clearest statement of approach rather than a rule for every sector.

The guidance defines lone workers as people who work by themselves without close or direct supervision. It gives these examples:

• staff who work alone at a fixed base, such as an administrator or a sole member of staff in a community house
• staff who work separately within a premises, such as a maintenance worker in an isolated area
• staff who work away from base, such as home support workers or security staff on patrol
• staff who work outside normal hours, such as on-call doctors
• staff who travel, or who escort service users
• staff in rural, remote or isolated areas

The HSA guidance links lone working to section 19: the risk assessment is where an employer decides whether an employee may work alone, including whether they would be at significantly higher risk doing so. Where safe lone working is not possible, the guidance says alternative arrangements are required. The same document says some tasks may be too difficult or dangerous to do alone.

Running a lone working risk assessment

The HSA guidance describes an assessment that:

• identifies significant hazards and the groups of staff affected
• records the controls already in place and judges whether they are enough
• identifies further controls and makes sure they are put in place
• flags tasks that are too difficult or dangerous to do alone
• identifies physical and psychological support needs
• is documented, signed and dated, and reviewed periodically, after incidents and after significant change

It also says workers or their representatives should be consulted, that a competent person may be needed, and that the process and assessments belong in the safety statement. Assess routine work and foreseeable emergencies. The guidance notes that occupational health advice may be needed where medical conditions are relevant.

Hazards to look for

The guidance lists violence and aggression, psychological risks such as stress and isolation, and vulnerable workers (young, older, pregnant or disabled workers, trainees, and agency or temporary staff). It also mentions hazardous substances or confined spaces, language barriers that could affect emergency communication, and gaps in training or experience. Isolation links directly to stress: see our guide to work-related stress and the HSA Work Positive approach.

Dynamic risk assessment

The guidance describes dynamic risk assessment as continually observing and analysing risks and hazards in the work environment so that a worker can withdraw if risk rises. It says staff can be trained to spot early signs of aggression and leave before it occurs.

Controls, communication and check-ins

The guidance says controls should be chosen after assessment, in consultation with employees. Measures it lists include:

• matching the worker's skills to the needs of the person they are visiting
• giving background information before a visit
• using a second person, visiting in pairs, or moving a visit to a workplace where the risk is unacceptable
• mobile phones with emergency codes or speed dials, and duress alarms
• testing and practising emergency plans
• reviewing building security
• keeping work vehicles roadworthy

For communication, it suggests periodic supervisor visits, regular agreed contact, alarm and safety technology, and a sign-off system at the end of each task, with all arrangements tested. The guidance lists regular check-in intervals with the base or a contact person as a measure to consider. The base should know the names, addresses and scheduled arrival and departure times, and a predetermined action plan should apply if a worker does not return or call in on time. The guidance gives examples: trying to contact the worker, informing a senior manager, or contacting the Gardaí. The guidance does not set a particular check-in frequency, so the interval should come from your own assessment.

Supervision, according to the guidance, depends on the risk, the worker's experience and their capacity to manage the risk. New workers, trainees and those new to a task should initially be accompanied. Training should be delivered in a language workers understand, and the guidance lists first aid and emergency procedures, manual handling, de-escalation and violence prevention among the topics for its sector. Section 10 of the Act also deals with training, and refers to training given, where appropriate, during time off from work and without loss of remuneration.

Home visits and work away from base

The HSA guidance says a risk assessment must be completed before a lone worker enters a service user's home. Hazards it names include challenging behaviour, people moving and handling, vehicle breakdown, break-ins, aggressive animals, sudden illness, remote locations and unsuitable home environments. Controls include briefings, pre-visit information, a second person where needed, and rescheduling a visit to a clinic or office. Its safety checklist for community workers includes confirming information before the visit, telling someone your location and expected duration, arranging what happens if you do not return, keeping your phone charged, parking in a well-lit spot facing an exit and being willing to end a visit if you feel uneasy.

For travelling staff, the guidance also advises sharing schedules and contact details and avoiding late shifts over long distances because of fatigue.

A practical approach (our suggestion, not a legal requirement): a Dublin-based field sales or inspection team can borrow the same pattern, namely a visit schedule held by a named colleague, a fixed sign-off time, a plan for a missed call, and a clear right to leave. That fits the "isolated or away from base" categories in the HSA examples, even though the guidance is not written for those sectors.

Working from home is not automatically lone working

Citizens Information (page last edited 12 March 2024) says employers have the same duty of care for health and safety when employees work from home, and that employers must check the temporary home workspace is suitable for the work. It also says employers should keep in regular contact. Whether home working raises lone working risks depends on your assessment of the tasks, and a desk-based role will usually be a different exercise from a home visit.

After an incident: support and reporting

The HSA guidance says employers should support workers affected by assaults, theft or damage, through debriefs, occupational health, counselling, post-trauma and peer support, and that staff should know how to access these services. It also calls for a system to report and investigate incidents and near misses, with data analysed for trends and used to revise safe working procedures. It says a lone working policy specific to each service or facility, with audits including interviews with lone workers, can show where controls and refresher training need improving. The more serious the risk, the more often controls should be reviewed.

On statutory reporting, both the HSA guidance and Citizens Information (page edited 16 July 2026) refer to the duty to report an accident to the HSA where it keeps an employee from normal work for more than three consecutive days. Citizens Information says the day of the accident is not counted and does not give a reporting deadline on that page. Our guide to accident and dangerous occurrence reporting explains the process.

A checklist you can adapt

• List every role where someone can be alone: fixed base, out of hours, away from base, travelling, remote sites.
• Assess each against hazards including violence, stress, medical emergencies and vehicle issues, and write it down.
• Decide which tasks should not be done alone and what the alternative is.
• Set how workers will make contact, and what you will do when contact fails.
• Test the alarms, phones and escalation steps, and record the test.
• Brief and train staff, and consult them on the controls.
• Review after any incident or near miss, and when work changes.

Learnsignal's offices are off Baggot Street in Dublin, and we offer in-person training from there. For current details, see our CPD pages.

Frequently asked questions

Is lone working legal in Ireland?

The sources we read do not prohibit it. The HSA guidance says the section 19 risk assessment is where the employer decides whether an employee may work alone, so the answer for each role depends on the assessment.

Is there a legal minimum number of check-ins?

The HSA guidance refers to agreed intervals and a pre-agreed action plan if contact is missed, but does not set a frequency. Base the interval on your assessment.

Does an employer have to supply panic alarms or a lone worker app?

The guidance lists alarms and mobile phones as example controls, not as universal requirements. Whether you need them is an outcome of your risk assessment.

Who is responsible if a lone worker is hurt?

The guidance says employer duties cannot be transferred to others, including those who work alone. Employees still have their own section 13 duties, such as taking reasonable care and reporting hazards.

Does this apply outside healthcare?

The Act applies to all employers. The HSA lone working guidance we read is aimed at health and social care, so for other sectors use it as a reference point, not as a sector rule.

Lone working is manageable when it is assessed deliberately, communicated clearly and reviewed after things go wrong.