Lone Worker Safety Solutions for Home Healthcare Workers

With advances in technology and an increasing number of health authorities moving towards providing more of their care in communities and homes, a growing sector of both the public and private healthcare workforce is delivering essential services by themselves and as lone workers.  

Healthcare workers can be classified as lone workers when providing care in the community because they are not performing their job with other coworkers. Even though they may be working with a patient or client, they are still considered lone workers as they are not in contact with their employer, who can send help in an emergency such as a violent incident in the workplace or chemical, biological and physical safety hazards in the home.  

Conversely, similar hazards threaten private healthcare workers in drug and alcohol recovery and treatment centers, assisted living, and long-term care homes.  

Working alone in home healthcare in the United States

It’s now estimated that 22 million people are working in US healthcare, making up 14% of all American workers. That’s significant, and when you consider the growing number of community workers alone in the homes with patients, many people work alone and in potentially vulnerable and dangerous circumstances.

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) has developed Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Healthcare and Social Service Workers, which provides a general easy-to-understand overview of healthcare worker rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). The document presents several suggested practices, including the provision of GPS tracking ability for mobile workers, checking-in and out protocols with supervisors for vulnerable employees, and a reliable means of emergency communications like cell and satellite phones, panic buttons, and panic button devices. 

Safety legislation for working alone in home healthcare in the United States 

In February 2021, US Congress passed the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, requiring the Department of Labor to address workplace violence in healthcare, social services, and other connected sectors. Under this act, employers must develop a tailored, comprehensive workplace violence-prevention plan that proactively prepares healthcare teams for violent incidents by implementing violence reporting, procedures for emergency response, safety training for employees, and communications plans for everyone potentially impacted.

Working alone in home healthcare in Canada

In a report presented to the House of Commons in June 2019, “health care workers working in-home care, remote and community-care settings also face greater risks of violence because they often work alone in these settings and lack training on how to de-escalate violence.”

A 2017 national Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) survey found that a “majority of nurses responding (61%) say they have experienced serious problems in the workplace, related to violence, including physical assault, bullying, verbal abuse, and racial/sexual harassment.”  

Like United States healthcare workers, public and private Canadian healthcare workers face similar threats and levels of violence when working. However, with a growing community and home healthcare sector in both countries, those threats are expected to increase.  

Federal and provincial legislation for working alone in healthcare in Canada 

Occupational health and safety legislation varies amongst the provinces and territories, but all address the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) says the general responsibilities of governments for occupational health and safety include:

• Enforcement of occupational health and safety legislation. 

• Workplace inspections. 

• Incident investigations (e.g., those incidents involving serious injuries or deaths). 

• Dissemination of information. 

• Promotion of training, education, and research. 

• Resolution of occupational health and safety disputes.