Lone working on business trips: the HSE rules, applied to travelling staff

A consultant visiting a client, an engineer on a site in another city, a sales manager driving between appointments — for much of the trip each is a lone worker, which HSE defines as working “Lone workers are those who work by themselves without close or direct supervision”. The rules that apply are the general ones: an employer must assess the risks under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, and HSE’s lone working guidance says how. This page takes that guidance point by point and applies it to business travel.

A lone working policy for business travel: twelve points

The legal starting point

The general duty is in section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and is set out on duty of care for business travellers. The duty to assess is in the 1999 Regulations:

HSE ties the two to lone workers directly: “Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, you must manage the risk to lone workers.” And it states the order of things: “As an employer, you must manage any health and safety risks before people can work alone. This applies to anyone contracted to work for you, including self-employed people.” — which reaches contractors travelling on your behalf as well as employees.

What HSE says you must do

The core list is short: “You must: train, supervise and monitor lone workers keep in touch with them and respond to any incident”. Three parts of it matter most on a trip.

Other people’s premises

For a business traveller, that is the client site, the partner’s factory, the venue. The practical step is a standard question to the host before the visit: site rules, emergency arrangements, and anything the visitor should know.

Monitoring and keeping in touch

“You must monitor your lone workers and keep in touch with them. Make sure they understand any monitoring system and procedures you use.” HSE’s examples translate almost word for word into travel:

And the instruction people skip: “Regularly test these systems and all emergency procedures to ensure lone workers can be contacted if a problem or emergency is identified.”

This is where a travel programme helps. A traveller whose flights and hotel are booked through one channel has an itinerary the employer can see, which covers the first of HSE’s examples. Contact intervals, alarms and return confirmation still have to be set up and tested; booking data alone does not do that.

Emergencies and health

• “Emergency procedures should include guidance on how and when lone workers should contact their employer, including details of any emergency contact numbers.”
• “Put procedures in place that enable direct contact with the lone worker so their manager can recognise signs of stress as early as possible.”
• On fitness to work alone: “if you are unsure whether someone's health condition means they are safe to work alone, get medical advice.”

Risks HSE singles out

HSE lists risks that particularly affect lone workers: “violence in the workplace stress and mental health or wellbeing a person's medical suitability to work alone the workplace itself, for example if it's in a rural or isolated area”. On violence it is careful: “Lone working does not always mean a higher risk of violence, but it does make workers more vulnerable.” It defines violence as “'any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work' – this includes verbal threats.”

For travel, the first and last hours are usually where these risks sit: late arrivals, transfers from airports, unfamiliar districts. A policy can deal with that directly — pre-booked transfers, arrival-time limits for some destinations, hotels chosen for location.

Supervision, training and limits

• “Base your levels of supervision on your risk assessment – the higher the risk, the more supervision they will need.”
• “You should set limits on what can be done while working alone.”

For travel that means a briefing for first trips and high-risk destinations, and clarity about what a traveller should not do alone.

Keeping the assessment current

A change in foreign travel advice for a destination, or an incident on a previous trip, could be the kind of change that calls for a review.

The wider set of travel policy clauses is on corporate travel policy; how ICO guidance limits the monitoring of workers is covered there too. This page quotes HSE guidance and the 1999 Regulations as read on 2026-09-30; it is not health and safety advice for a particular workplace.

Common questions