Working Alone or In Isolation

If you have staff assigned to work alone or in isolation, you must take the following steps and review your process annually for effectiveness.

• Identify hazards and assess risks to staff who work alone or in isolation.
• Eliminate or minimize the assessed risks as much as possible, for example, by using physical barriers or locked doors to separate workers from the public.
• Develop and implement a written procedure for checking on the well-being of the worker assigned to work alone.
• Provide staff training for the working alone check-in procedure.

Workers who are alone for short or occasional periods by choice—for example, coming in early, staying late, or working on a day off—are not considered to be working alone. Also, if workers from different employers are working together or nearby (for example, when a clinic shares its workspace with a pharmacy), and they are both willing and able to provide timely help if needed, they are not considered to be working alone. Regardless, employers must ensure workers’ safety at all times. This means assessing potential hazards and implementing measures to protect workers, such as safety procedures like locking the clinic’s front door when working alone and maintaining up-to-date first aid procedures with effective communication for all staff.

The employer is responsible for identifying potential hazards and assessing the risks of staff working alone. This template can help you assess the risk of staff working alone in your clinic.

If clinic staff work alone or in isolation, the employer must establish a working alone policy and procedures for checking their well-being, including the frequency of check-ins, steps to take if a worker cannot be reached, and plans for emergency response. Regular check-ins help employees feel safer and more valued, thereby reducing the anxiety and stress associated with working alone. It’s important to provide staff with clear check-in and check-out procedures.