Although seven out of 10 full-time staff qualify as ‘lone workers’, just under half are unhappy with having to work by themselves.

 
The term ‘lone worker’ applies to self-employed people and home workers, employees in fields such as painting and decorating or repairs who work away from the office, personnel who work outside of normal hours such as factory security staff and mobile workers such as sales people.
 
According to a survey undertaken among 1,000 full-time workers in the UK by RedShift Research on behalf of mobile operator Orange, just under one in five now spend more than 50% of their time working alone.
 
But even though 49% said they had felt uncomfortable with the situation at various times, 42% did not bring the matter up with their employer as they were nervous about the consequences.
 
Some 46% of respondents did not identify themselves as lone workers at all, however, even though 71% could be categorised as such at least at some point in their working day because they regularly worked late in the office (30%) or travelled to meetings on public transport (25%).
 
In order to help employers support their lone workers more effectively and provide guidance on their legal responsibilities to keeping staff safe, however, Orange has published a ‘Guide to Working Safely Alone’ in collaboration with personal safety charity the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.
 
The Guide also provides employees with advice on how to act more confidently in worrying situations and provides tips on how to avoid threatening situations from escalating.
 
Catherine Skinner, director at the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, said: “This guide is a great starting point for people to understand how to respond to threatening or uncomfortable situations. It can also direct businesses to further courses and information if they want more detail for any reason.”