3 ways to automate a lone working risk assessment

#1 - Simple assessment

Who it's for: Single-site businesses recording the lone working assessment themselves, where you know the site and just need a clear, structured record.

What it is: A lone worker risk assessment records each risk to anyone who works without a colleague within earshot, the people it could harm, the controls in place, and any further action. This version is structured around the 13 areas a lone working risk assessment should cover: who is at risk and when, contact and monitoring, training, health conditions, PPE, high-risk tasks, violence and challenging behaviour, cash and high-value goods, emergency procedures, first aid, lock-up and travel home, additional site-specific measures, and ongoing monitoring and review. Each area is a small group of three prompts written for that area. Lone working situations asks you to identify the lone working roles and situations, decide who might be harmed and how, and evaluate the lone working risks and decide on precautions; Emergency procedures asks about the emergencies a lone worker could face and how they are prepared for them; and so on through all 13, so every question tells you exactly what it's about. Assessing the risks lone workers face is a duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, whatever industry you operate in.

In practice: A single-site business works down the 13 areas. Under Lone working situations: the situations (an early-shift cleaner working alone before the rest of the team arrives, a manager who locks up alone most nights), who's at risk (both, from a delayed response if they're injured or unwell), and the precautions (both logged against the shift rota, with a check-in call agreed for each). Under Lock-up and travel home: lock-up confirmed as a written checklist, with a text check-in for safe arrival home and a 30-minute follow-up call if it doesn't arrive. Three short answers per area, and the whole assessment gets covered.

Why it works: The 13 areas cover every point where someone could end up working alone, from who's exposed through training, health, equipment and high-risk tasks, to violence, cash handling, emergencies, first aid, getting home safely, and ongoing review, so nothing gets missed: the assessment covers the person AND the controls around them, not just the hazards someone happened to think of. And splitting each area into three prompts means nobody has to remember what a good answer contains; the structure asks for hazards, people, and precautions separately, which is what makes the record defensible.

Steps included:

• 13 assessment areas: from who is at risk of lone working through training, health, equipment and high-risk tasks, to violence, cash handling, emergencies, first aid, lock-up and ongoing review
• Each area is a group of 3 prompts written for it: identify the hazards, decide who might be harmed and how, evaluate the risks and decide on precautions

#2 - With guidance

Who it's for: Businesses where a manager, not a specialist, completes the assessment and needs the method in front of them.

What it is: The same 13 areas and three prompts, but each area's group now carries its own written guidance: why that area matters and what to check before you answer. The contact and monitoring group carries what a working check-in system looks like; the violence and challenging behaviour group carries de-escalation training and panic alarms; the lock-up and travel home group carries the lock-up sequence and the safe-arrival check-in.

What it adds to the simple assessment:

1. Guidance for every area, on screen exactly where you answer it
2. What to check before answering, not just a blank box
3. An assessment that's consistent whoever completes it

Why it works: Generic guidance at the top of a form gets skimmed once and forgotten by area 9. Guidance attached to each area gets read at the moment it's needed, so a manager who isn't a specialist still asks the right questions about check-in procedures, high-risk tasks, and what to do if someone doesn't arrive home.

Steps included:

• The 13 assessment areas, each a group of 3 prompts
• 13 guidance notes, one per area: why it matters and what to check

#3 - With photo evidence

Who it's for: Businesses that want visual proof of each area's condition alongside the written record.

What it is: The same 13 areas and three prompts, but each area's group now carries a photo step. As you assess each area you photograph it: the first aid kit, the drop safe, the lock-up route, the laminated emergency card by the exit. The record shows the condition of each area at the time, not just a description of it.

In practice: A site manager works through the assessment with their phone. At Emergency procedures they photograph the laminated procedure card by the exit; at First aid access, the stocked kit on the wall; at Cash and high-value goods, the drop safe in place. Every answer now has a picture next to it.

What it adds to the simple assessment:

1. A photo per area, captured as you assess it
2. Proof of conditions that holds up to an inspector, not just a written claim
3. A visual baseline to compare against at the next review

Why it works: A written assessment says the first aid kit is stocked; a photo shows it. When the assessment is reviewed next year, the photos also show what changed. And because the photo step sits with its area, the evidence files itself against the right risk instead of landing in a camera roll.

Steps included:

• The 13 assessment areas, each a group of 3 prompts
• 13 photo steps, one per area: the hazard or the control in place, captured at the time

How to pick the right version

You don't need to know our product to choose. Every version here is the same 13-area assessment; the additions change who can run it and what the record proves.

Do other people run the assessment?

If you run it yourself and know the method, the plain steps are enough: #1. The moment a manager who isn't a specialist does it, the guidance needs to be on screen next to each area: #2.

Do you need photo proof?

A written assessment meets the duty; photos show the actual condition of each area. If a written record is enough, #1 or #2. If you want the first aid kit, the emergency procedures, and the cash controls on camera next to their answers, #3.

Need both? Open the version that matters most in the playground and add the other's steps. That is how the product works anyway: every option here is the same assessment with steps added.

Related workflows

• Violence risk assessment - lone workers face higher violence risk
• Closing safety check - the close a lone worker often does
• Opening safety check - the open a lone worker often does

Conclusion

Lone working is common in retail, cleaning, care, site work, and quiet opening and closing shifts, and the risk is simply that nobody is there to help if something goes wrong. Every version above is the same 13 areas a lone working risk assessment should cover, each a group of three prompts; the additions put guidance or a photo inside every area's group. Pick the one your business needs and build on it in the playground.

→ Build your own lone working risk assessment on Pilla.