AIBU to dislike lone working

[loneworker]

Does anyone 'lone work'? As in being alone in charge of somewhere - in this example, a shop.

Does your workplace have any policies or procedures in place regarding lone working?

I work in a small shop, (not a chain but not the only one, ifyswim), and have to lone work the majority of my days, for 7-9 hours. There doesn't seem to be any policies in place regarding safety. So sometimes I wonder if I had an accident or fell down the steps, how long it would be before someone found me.

For example when a delivery comes in, and I have to carry all the boxes & crates up a flight of stairs in the building on my own.

Not to mention the feeling of being vulnerable, being alone for such long periods in the day.

I know you could say I need to get a new job, but apart from this, I do enjoy my work. Just wanted to hear about others who work in similar situations.

No idea of the legalities of any of it either.

How do you get breaks?

Legalities of what? Being alone? I assume you're an adult. What difference would "policies" make to you?

I love my extremely social job (Primary Principal) although also enjoy my 2 half-days in my home office with no one to see.

I'd hate that. I once worked an office job where I was left to run the office alone (didn't have a clue what I was doing at first) and that was bad enough.

Technically I used to Lone work. I worked in a hotel so often I would be the only person in my department. There would be a receptionist anda couple in the bar and restaurant but I would be either in the basement or on my floor alone for the whole shift. I used to have to carry a radio at all times, anything too heavy I wouldn't be able to move until the night porters started so they could help me. Not really any other policies they can put in place.

I love it as I can think without being interrupted

We have lone working policies because of the nature of our job but I think what you do sounds normal
I imagine the box carrying is risk assessed and that you see customers?

I have a very similar job in retail and we have a strict ‘no lone working policy’ (which I occasionally ignore for an hour or two). But my employer would be very supportive if I was on my own and assure me that I had the right to close the shop, clearly not all employers are as responsible.

Yes we have a lone working policy that sets out detailed procedures for people who (exceptionally) come into the office outside normal business hours. Your employer is responsible for your safety at work and is required to have certain measures in place to ensure your safety. If I were you, I'd raise my concerns with the owner/your manager. There might be small things that can be done to improve things for you, eg getting the delivery companies to carry the boxes for you? Implementing a personal alarm system so you can call for help if needed?

I lone work fairly often in a small library. I have a Solo Protect device (worn as a lanyard) which is a bit of an arse to remember to use, but it would enable me to call for help if I was unable to get to a phone. We have to wear them when lone working. When I work in larger libraries we have a policy of two out front at all times.

I have never really felt vulnerable with customers, but I am glad of the emergency device when I’ve closed up and am putting cash away alone.

Can you suggest your employer looks into one of these devices? They are quite widely used.

Thanks everyone, it's interesting to hear what other people's workplaces do in similar set ups.

I know from my previous jobs (in larger companies) there has always been strict no lone working guidelines due to health & safety with stairs / cash management etc.

Luckily I've not had many instances of feeling totally vulnerable at work, except one particular evening where a guy came in near close smelling of alcohol, stumbling around, he was in the shop for a good 40 minutes, luckily a very lovely lady had come in during this time and picked up on his odd behaviour & told me she'd stayed because she could tell I was on my own & nervous.
He left when he realised she wasn't going to leave.

I was very grateful to her.

I used to work in a pub and we had to do lone shifts in the day and I hated it, I always thought what if someone kicks off or I fall in the cellar or something and we got no mobile signal in there. Nothing bad ever happened though.

How do you get breaks?

Close up for lunch.

*Legalities of what? Being alone? I assume you're an adult. What difference would "policies" make to you?

I love my extremely social job (Primary Principal) although also enjoy my 2 half-days in my home office with no one to see.*

I am an adult, being at home in your office is a bit of a different scenario though for 2 half days?

I absolutely love it - I get about twice the amount done as when I'm in an office!

I lone work in my retail job quite a lot. Luckily, I am in a mall-type situation and can see across the mall into another shop so if there was a problem, I could attract the attention of the workers there. I can also call security, but to be honest, they do fuck all most of the time and seldom answer their phone. I rarely feel uneasy, but we do sometimes have drug addicts in (yesterday the place was rife with them, but luckily they gave me a wide berth) and have a shutter that closes for cashing up or if I need to go to the loo. In my last job, there was a rule that you weren't to be left alone on the shop floor, but it was never enforced. I was often left alone in a huge shop. There were radios, so help was only a call away if needed.

There might be small things that can be done to improve things for you, eg getting the delivery companies to carry the boxes for you?

Rather ironically the warehouse (same company) that delivers the stock won't carry everything up the stairs because of health & safety reasons... which makes me a bit

I used to lone work in a large chain of retail shops for the majority of my shift. We had a 2 hour overlap for breaks and that was it. We had neck alarms linked to a live security dept. and other security in place as we are a cash business.
I hated it and felt vulnerable a lot of the time. As a manager I felt very uncomfortable with my (mainly younger) staff doing the same. We would be working up till 10pm by ourselves...its the main reason I left after 20 years.
Your employer should have a clear lone working risk assessment done on the premises and on each employee personally. You need to be clear on what to do in emergancy situations and for personal breaks etc. If there was no security in place e.g. panic buttons etc then i would be raising that with them.

Lol at the idea that working from home is the same as working alone in a shop- jeez. I used to feel very vulnerable working in a petrol station with just 2 of us, it would worry me working alone in retail to be honest. Do you have any set procedures to follow should something happen?

Lol at the idea that working from home is the same as working alone in a shop- jeez. I used to feel very vulnerable working in a petrol station with just 2 of us, it would worry me working alone in retail to be honest. Do you have any set procedures to follow should something happen?

This is what I was getting at in my post but maybe not worded very well, there's no procedures at all. I've worked there a good while & never been told of any procedures in place.. I don't think any of the other locations in the business lone trade at all though so it would need to be specific to that one I guess.

I'm quite fortunate that I'm quite friendly with the surrounding neighbour businesses so I could call on them if needed.

I used to work in an estate agency and often worked alone on a Saturday.
It was in a very dodgy area of Manchester. Luckily it was also very quiet usually.
I was only early twenties and the owners were cowboys.
I used to leave the key in the front door and keep it locked so I could vet people before letting them in. If the bosses had known they would have been annoyed. But they were on the golf course so never found out.
I was never happy about it. YANBU.

I lone work a lot in care

I work in a hotel, night porter, and the majority of my work is alone. It also can involve a lot of moving and handling.
From the pov of violence from someone else, well I'm in a building full of people and if my life were at risk, I'd be hitting the fire alarm. I also carry a phone at all times, so I can call the police if needs be.
If I slipped/tripped/fell then I have the phone to summon help and the GM is always on call, or one of the HODs.
Granted if I were to be unconscious a phone wouldn't help much, but I do minimise risk myself as much as possible by only moving what I can by myself safely, anything else waits until someone else comes in to help.
And I'm firm and consistent about what I will and won't do. No going up ladders and no carrying large tables up/down stairs. Smaller fold aways I can manage, even if I make more trips and it takes me longer.
I've worked alone a lot at night or early hours, in hospitality, care and retail and you have to develop a very confident air, even if you don't feel it, and I never tell anyone I'm alone either.
I don't think there's any specific laws about lone working, I couldn't really find anything concrete when I looked. But there must be risk assessment in place, and that must consider the risks posed to you by lone working.
I used to feel uncomfortable but time and experience has taught me how to deal with a lot of situations on my own.
Can you carry a phone with you at all times? And as for the delivery, put away what you can, with minimal risk to yourself, leave what you would struggle with until someone else is available to help.

I forget about breaks!
You're supposed to have your break away from your work area - but actually for me that's physically impossible because I literally work across every area, and they're (I think) supposed to be uninterrupted. I get a half an hour unpaid break in my shift, however as long as everything that should be done is done, no one notices if I take longer. Obviously if I'm on a break and needed then I have to respond, but due to the nature of the job and the times I work, I take my break when it suits me anyway. It's swings and roundabouts for me, yes I may get my break disturbed sometimes, but then I can have another break or continue my break whenever I want really so there's a pay off.

There absolutely should be procedures e.f. linked to not stacking upstairs without someone there. You should have a panic alarm and agree a codeword to use if ever feel uncomfortable- reciprocal arrangements with nearby shops work well.