Most Canadian employers have staff who work alone at some point. Here is what the regulations require, the five categories of lone workers, and the controls that keep them safe.
Most Alberta employers have workers who need to work alone at some point. Public concern for the safety of lone workers led the Alberta government to create the Working Alone Regulation in 2000, based on the recommendations of a task force drawn from industry, labour, and government. The requirements have since been consolidated into the Occupational Health and Safety Code, where they appear in Part 28.
Employers are responsible for minimizing and eliminating the risks tied to working alone. They are also required to ensure that workers who work alone have an effective way to communicate with someone who can respond immediately if there is an emergency or the worker is injured or becomes ill.
The five categories of lone workers
Workers who perform their duties alone tend to fall into five broad groups.
- Workers who handle cash, including convenience store clerks, retail and food outlet staff, and taxi drivers.
- Workers who travel away from a base office to meet clients, including home care workers, social services staff, and bylaw enforcement officers.
- Workers who do hazardous work with no routine interaction with the public, including those in the logging and oil and gas industries.
- Workers who travel alone with no routine interaction with the public, including truck drivers and business travellers in transit.
- Workers at risk of a violent attack because their site is isolated from public view, including security guards and custodians.
Each of these situations carries different hazards and calls for different controls.
Controls that apply across the board
Some best practices are common to every working alone situation. Proper worker training and an effective communications system - so a lone worker can easily reach someone in an emergency - reduce the risk significantly. In some cases the hazard can be eliminated by rearranging work schedules. Two loggers working in isolated areas, for example, could be assigned to the same cutting area so that neither has to work alone.
How other provinces approach it
No province in Canada prohibits working alone. Jurisdictions with specific provisions that regulate it include Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. All of them use a regulatory approach very similar to Alberta's, requiring employers to conduct a hazard assessment and develop controls to reduce the risks they identify.
Training for lone workers
On-Track Safety's online Working Alone Awareness course covers the laws around working alone, how to recognize unclear and changing work alone situations, and practical ways to maximize safety on the job. It also explains compliance requirements and the obligations employers have to their workers. The course suits individuals and supervisors working in industrial settings such as the energy, forestry, mining, construction, and utility sectors.
On-Track Safety offers Working Alone Awareness training and helps employers build the hazard assessments and communication procedures the regulations require. Use code ONTRACK10 for 10 percent off online courses.