Quarterly BAS Due (July–September)
Form 1099-NEC & Contractor Payment Reporting Check
Why this matters.
There is no single “lone working law” in the UK, but the general duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, combined with the specific requirement under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 to carry out and record suitable risk assessments, applies fully to anyone who works alone — home carers, security guards, delivery drivers, estate agents doing viewings, cleaners, engineers on site visits, and small retail staff on solo shifts. The HSE is explicit that lone working is not automatically unsafe, but employers cannot simply leave lone workers to manage risk themselves: they must identify hazards specific to working alone (violence, medical emergencies with no one present to help, manual handling without assistance, remote or isolated locations), put controls in place, and provide a reliable way for a lone worker to raise the alarm if something goes wrong. Failures in this area carry serious consequences beyond a poor HSE inspection outcome. Where a lone worker is seriously injured or killed and an investigation finds no suitable risk assessment, no communication or check-in procedure, and no training on personal safety, the business can face HSE enforcement notices, unlimited fines under the Health and Safety at Work Act, and in the most serious cases scrutiny under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. Sectors that have expanded lone or remote working since 2020 — home visits, mobile trades, out-of-hours facilities work — are a particular focus, since many risk assessments were written for office-based teams and never updated for staff who now regularly work without colleagues nearby.
