HR glossary · Safety, conduct and hours

Working alone

Work where no one can readily help if a worker is hurt or threatened. Employers must assess the risk and set up a way to check on lone workers.

Also called: lone worker, working in isolation, lone worker check-in

What working alone means

Working alone means a worker is on the job where help would not be readily available if they were injured, fell ill or faced a threat. It is about whether someone can see or hear them and get help in time, not only whether they are the only person in the building.

Lone work is common in small businesses: the clerk closing a store at night, a cleaner in an empty office, a home care worker or tradesperson visiting clients, a gas station attendant, a farm hand in a far field, or a delivery driver. A worker can also be effectively alone in a busy place, such as a back storeroom where nobody would notice a fall.

Several provinces have specific working alone rules, and in every province the general duty to protect workers covers the extra risk. The usual expectations are that you assess the risk, reduce it, and have a reliable way to check on the worker.

How it works

Start with an assessment. List who works alone, when and where. For each situation, look at what could go wrong: violence or robbery, a fall, a medical emergency, a vehicle breakdown, extreme weather. Think about how long it would take for someone to notice and how long for help to arrive.

Reduce the risk. Common controls include not handling large amounts of cash alone, good lighting and visibility from the street, locked back doors, a rule against certain high-risk tasks (ladder work, handling hazardous products) when alone, two-person staffing at the riskiest times, and giving workers clear authority to refuse service or leave an unsafe situation.

Set up check-ins. Agree how and how often the worker will check in, by phone call, text, app or a monitoring service. Decide in advance what happens if a check-in is missed: who calls, how long they wait, and when they go to the site or call emergency services. Test the procedure. A check-in system nobody responds to does not protect anyone.

Train workers on the procedure and the reasons for it, and review it after any incident or near miss. Common mistakes: relying on the worker to call if something goes wrong (they may not be able to), check-ins only at the start and end of a long shift, and no named person responsible for watching for a missed call.

Working alone by province

Some provinces have detailed working alone regulations; others rely on the general duty to protect workers. Required check-in intervals and risk assessment rules differ.

Where the work is done	The rule
British Columbia	You need a written check-in procedure for workers working alone or in isolation (OHS Regulation section 4.21). It sets the time between checks, developed with the worker and the joint committee or worker representative, and what happens if the worker cannot be reached. A designated person makes the checks and records them, with a check at the end of the shift as well. Higher-risk work needs shorter intervals.
Alberta	You must do a hazard assessment for working alone, involving the affected workers, and eliminate or control the hazards. You must provide an effective means of communication, such as a radio or phone, and contact the worker at regular intervals suited to the hazard. Where electronic communication is not practicable, you visit the worker or the worker checks in.
Manitoba	You must identify the risks of working alone, in consultation with the safety committee or representative (or workers if neither exists), and eliminate or reduce them. Controls include an effective communication system or regular contact with the worker. Written procedures must be reviewed at least every 3 years, or sooner if conditions change.

We have not yet confirmed the working alone rules in the other provinces and territories; check with your provincial safety regulator.

Example: Evening cleaning crews

Sophie runs a commercial cleaning business in Calgary with 10 cleaners, most of whom work alone in offices after hours. She assesses each site and flags two with dim parking lots and one with a basement storage room with poor phone signal.

Sophie sets up a check-in by text every hour, with herself or a supervisor on call. If a cleaner misses a check-in, the person on call phones twice over 10 minutes, then drives to the site or calls 911. At the basement site she adds a second cleaner, and at the other two the cleaners park under the building lights. She trains each cleaner on the process and tests it once a month.

Onboarding checklists in Staffkin

Include your working alone procedure and a check-in test on your Staffkin onboarding checklist for any role that works solo shifts.

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Free tools and guides for this

Onboarding checklist template

Questions about working alone

Is it legal to have an employee work alone?

Yes. Working alone is allowed, but you must assess the risks and put controls and a check-in system in place.

How often should a lone worker check in?

It depends on the risk. Higher-risk work needs more frequent checks, and some provinces set specific requirements, so check your local rule.

Does a worker in a store with customers count as working alone?

It can. If no co-worker is available to help in an emergency, the worker may be treated as working alone, especially at night.

Official sources

General information for Canadian employers, not legal advice. Rules differ by province and territory and change over time, so check with your provincial employment standards office (or the federal Labour Program if you are federally regulated) before you rely on it. See employment standards by province.

Checked against official sources on 5 November 2026.