Doireann:
Thank you for bringing up this topic. I had never heard of a Lone Working Policy. Evidently, employers are obligated to see to the safety of lone workers in the event of mishap such as a slip and fall, or an attack by hostile customers. After conducting a few web searches, I gather that these policies are more widely used in the UK and Canada than in the US, where our Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has no Lone Working policy requirement.
If it helps at all, a web search turned up this template for Lone Working Policy from the UK. This one doesn't seem very helpful, but still better than nothing. I expect that a determined searcher will find that many other examples are available online.
In addition, I found some commercial web sites that furnish sample Lone Working Policy templates by email, in exchange for your contact information. Undoubtedly a sales person will be contacting me shortly. :-)
Although my non-profit shop does not have an official Lone Working Policy, this may be due to only having two paid employees working with many volunteers. Unofficially, the shop policy seems to be, "Don't work alone."
In the past, when my shop has needed advice for issues like this, we have been able to turn to another local non-profit organization that provides free legal support and sample language. I hope that you too have such a resource that can provide assistance tailored to your particular country's requirements.
When you complete your own Lone Working Policy, please post a copy so the rest of us can see it.
From: Doireann Lalor <doireann@bsbcoop.org>
Hi lovely Bikey people,
Do any of you have a Lone Working Policy for your workshop/organisation that you’d be happy to share with me? We need to make one for Broken Spoke (Oxford, UK), and I find it’s always easier to make policies using a good template from a similar organisation. Would be super useful!