How to Write a Lone Working Policy for a Domiciliary Care Agency

Domiciliary care is, by definition, lone working. Your care workers enter service users' homes alone, often at unsociable hours, in areas they may not be familiar with. They work without direct supervision, make decisions independently, and face risks that workers in other settings do not encounter. A lone working policy is not just a CQC requirement. It is a fundamental part of your duty of care to your staff.

This guide covers what your lone working policy must include, the legislation it must reference, and the practical systems you need to keep your workers safe.

The Legal Framework

Your lone working policy must reference:

• Health and Safety at Work Act 1974: places a general duty on employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety, and welfare of employees at work.
• Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999: requires employers to carry out risk assessments, including for lone working situations.
• HSE guidance on working alone (INDG73): the Health and Safety Executive's guidance on protecting lone workers, which provides practical advice on assessing and managing risks.
• Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007: relevant in extreme cases where a failure in lone working arrangements contributes to a worker's death.

CQC inspects lone working under Regulation 12 (safe care and treatment) and Regulation 18 (staffing). Inspectors expect to see a policy that addresses the specific risks your workers face and the systems you have in place to manage those risks.

Risk Assessment Before First Visits

Before a care worker visits a new service user for the first time, you must carry out a risk assessment of the environment and the situation. This should cover the location (is it in an area with known safety concerns?), access to the property (are there security gates, dogs, or other hazards?), the service user's behaviour and any known risks (history of aggression, substance misuse, or mental health concerns that might affect worker safety), other people in the household, and the time of the visit (early morning, late evening, or night visits carry different risks).

The risk assessment must be documented, shared with the care worker before their first visit, and reviewed regularly. If a new risk emerges, such as a change in the service user's behaviour or new people moving into the household, the risk assessment must be updated.

Check-In and Check-Out Systems

You must have a system that tracks your care workers' whereabouts. At minimum, workers should check in when they arrive at a visit and check out when they leave. The system should generate an alert if a worker fails to check in or check out within a defined timeframe.

Many agencies use electronic call monitoring systems or mobile apps for this. Others use telephone-based systems. Whatever system you use, your policy must state how it works, what happens when a worker fails to check in, who is responsible for monitoring, and how quickly a response is initiated when an alert is triggered.

The response to a missed check-in must be defined. It should escalate from attempting to contact the worker by phone, to contacting the service user, to sending another staff member to the location, to contacting the emergency services. The escalation timescales should be realistic and appropriate to the level of risk.

What Workers Should Do If They Feel Unsafe

Your policy must give workers clear guidance on what to do if they feel unsafe during a visit. This includes leaving the property if they feel at immediate risk (workers should never remain in a situation where they feel their safety is threatened), contacting their supervisor or the on-call manager immediately, calling the emergency services if necessary, and documenting the incident using your incident reporting procedure.

Workers must know that they will not face disciplinary action for leaving a visit if they feel unsafe. This needs to be explicit in your policy and reinforced in training. A culture where workers feel pressured to remain in unsafe situations is a failure of your lone working arrangements.

Personal Safety Measures

Your policy should cover practical personal safety measures including ensuring workers have charged mobile phones with credit at all times, providing personal safety alarms where appropriate, ensuring workers have access to a list of emergency contacts, advising workers on safe parking and route planning, and providing guidance on managing confrontational situations.

Training

All care workers must receive lone working training as part of their induction and on an ongoing basis. Training should cover the content of your lone working policy, how to use the check-in and check-out system, how to carry out a dynamic risk assessment on arrival at a visit, personal safety techniques, what to do in an emergency, and how to report concerns. For broader training and documentation requirements, see our registered manager documents guide. For a related policy area, see our guide to moving and handling policy.