At a lone worker workstation, professional activities are carried out by a single person alone, i.e. out of sight and earshot of other people.
This applies both to permanent lone working and to short-term tasks in which employees work without direct communication or line of sight to others.
In principle, individual workstations are not prohibited. However, the biggest challenge at such workplaces is ensuring first aid in the event of accidents or acute health problems.
The higher the hazard potential, the more critical this problem is, regardless of whether it is caused by the activity itself or by the working environment. It is therefore necessary to carry out a risk assessment in advance.
The most important facts in brief
✓ Individual workplaces are workplaces where activities are carried out by a single person alone, without direct sight or call distance to others.
✓ The biggest challenge in individual workplaces is ensuring first aid in the event of accidents or acute health problems, especially in activities with a high risk potential.
✓ To ensure safety at individual workplaces, a careful risk assessment and the implementation of suitable technical, organizational and personal protective measures are necessary.
In which sectors are individual workplaces to be found?
Energy and utility companies
In the utilities industry, especially in tasks such as maintaining network infrastructure, work is predominantly carried out at individual workstations. Despite the use of modern protective equipment to improve occupational safety, there is still a risk of serious accidents for people working alone, according to the employers' liability insurance associations.
Logistics sector
In logistics, employees often work in situations where they are out of sight and earshot of other people. The use of machines such as forklift trucks, pallet trucks, conveyor belts and other equipment exposes them to potential hazards.
Production
During the night shift or at weekends, production employees often work alone. Although they have modern safety equipment and are trained, there is a risk of serious accidents when handling machines in certain areas. Unprotected or uncontrolled moving parts often pose a particular danger here.
Social facilities
Employees in social institutions often work alone and may occasionally be exposed to potential risks such as threats and violence when dealing with patients or clients. Due to cost pressure and a shortage of skilled workers, working alone is often unavoidable.
In which professions are there often individual workplaces?
Craftsman:in: Craftspeople work alone in various areas. Smaller jobs and repairs are often carried out alone. As work often has to be carried out in several places at the same time due to the wide range of customer requirements, it is not uncommon for tradespeople to work alone. Many tradespeople are also self-employed and therefore often work alone.
Janitor: Janitors often carry out minor repairs and maintenance work on their own. The reasons for this are both the need to be able to react quickly to unexpected problems and cost savings.
Farmer: Farmers often do not work within sight or call distance of other people when carrying out their daily tasks such as caring for livestock, carrying out repairs or maintenance work.
Since farmers are often self-employed and manage their farms independently, it is almost impossible for them to avoid working alone. Some farms are also located in remote areas where labor is only available to a limited extent.
Truck drivers: Truck drivers work alone in various situations. Working alone is particularly dangerous for truck drivers on long-distance journeys, night and weekend work, delivery trips and journeys to remote areas, as there is no one nearby who can quickly provide first aid in an emergency.
Employees in the mobile nursing service: In home nursing, patients often require individual support and care.
Mobile care services usually have several patients at different locations. In order to reach and care for them efficiently, the caregivers work alone so that they can move flexibly between the different locations.
Some patients also need a quiet and undisturbed environment in order to recover optimally, which is why working alone is part of everyday working life in the nursing service.
What legal regulations apply to a single workstation?
Both government regulations and the regulations of the accident insurance institutions regulate lone working. Section 5 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (ArbSchG) stipulates that potential hazards at lone working sites must always be identified and evaluated by the employer as part of a risk assessment. Suitable protective measures must be provided on the basis of the assessment and documented in accordance with Section 6 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The term "hazardous work" is anchored in DGUV-V 1: DGUV-R 100-001 defines hazardous work as work where there is an increased risk due to the work process, the type of activity, the substances used or the environment.
If a person working alone carries out hazardous work, the employer must take suitable technical or organizational personal protection measures in addition to the general protective measures in accordance with Section 8 (2) of DGUV Regulation 1.
DGUV regulation 112-139 stipulates that working alone is not permitted if the assessment indicates a particular risk situation and the probability of an emergency is considered to be increased. This may be the case, for example, if emergencies already occur under normal working conditions or if repeated emergencies have occurred in comparable work situations.
According to Section 8 of DGUV Regulation 1, hazardous work includes, for example, activities involving a risk of falling, such as working on raised platforms or scaffolding. This also includes activities in confined, enclosed spaces as well as silos or tanks where there is a risk of oxygen deficiency or harmful gases.
Welding in confined and poorly ventilated areas also constitutes hazardous work, as there is a risk of hazardous fumes and fires. Working in areas at risk of fire or explosion or on closed hollow bodies is also considered hazardous work within the meaning of the regulation.
Furthermore, work such as gas pressure tests and leak tests on containers are risky as they involve manipulating pressurized systems. The testing of large-scale technical systems, such as boiler systems, also requires special safety measures due to the potential dangers associated with these systems. Blasting work is another hazardous activity that requires careful planning and execution in order to avoid accidents.
What safety measures are in place at an individual workstation?
"If hazardous work is carried out by one person alone, the employer must provide suitable technical or organizational personal protection measures in addition to the general safety measures." (§ 8 Para. 2 DGUV Regulation 1).
The selection of these measures always depends on the type of lone working and the degree of risk.
In principle, the employer follows the so-called TOP principle. This establishes a hierarchy of measures according to which technical measures take priority first. This is followed by organizational measures and finally personal protective measures to safeguard lone working.
Technical protective measures: Technical measures are aimed at eliminating hazards at source or reducing the risk of accidents and damage to health. Examples of possible technical measures for lone working include personal emergency signal systems, protective covers on machines, gas warning devices or walkie-talkies.
Organizational protective measures: These measures relate to the creation of a structured and systematic system of action to ensure occupational health and safety. They supplement the technical measures and aim to minimize the remaining hazards as far as possible, e.g. by having a second person carry out inspections, using timed telephone/radio alarm systems or constant camera surveillance.
Personal protective measures: Personal protective measures are supplementary measures that are considered if technical and organizational measures are not sufficient to minimize the hazards that arise. They include training and further education of the persons concerned and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as helmets, safety goggles, hearing protection or respiratory protection devices.
Special regulation: The so-called STOP principle applies in areas at risk of fire and explosion. The "S" stands for substitution and comes first in the hierarchy. This means that it must be checked whether hazardous substances can be replaced by less critical substances. The STOP principle is therefore an extension of the TOP principle.
What role does the risk assessment play at an individual workplace and how is it carried out?
In principle, working alone is permissible in many cases, but requires special safety measures that depend on the type of hazards at the workplace and must be determined as part of a risk assessment. Sample instructions for carrying out a risk assessment can be found here.
The risk assessment includes a thorough analysis of the working environment and working conditions. A risk value (R-value) is determined for each hazard identified. This is based on the classification of the work processes into hazard levels (GZ), the emergency probability (NW) and the time to first aid for affected persons at the scene of the accident (EW).
The risk assessment is based on the formula R = (hazard number + first aid number) x emergency probability. An R value above 30 indicates that the workplace has an unacceptable risk and that lone working must not take place without additional safety measures.
If the risk potential is low, patrols or a telephone connection can be used to safeguard lone workers. If there is a higher risk potential, lone workers should use personal emergency signal systems that trigger an alarm both manually (dependent on will) and automatically (independent of will).
Particularly dangerous work requires constant video monitoring or assistance from other people in the company. Working alone is not permitted, for example, for work involving a risk of falling, as this is considered dangerous work that must not be carried out by one person alone.
The selection of safety measures should always be based on the individual risk assessment in order to ensure the safety of lone workers.
