Lone worker policy template
Working alone is a named hazard in its own right, defined as work isolated from the assistance of others by its location, its time or its nature. Cleaning an office after hours is the textbook example, and it happens in most towns every night.
| Section | What the policy says |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To set out how somebody working on their own is kept safe, and what happens when something goes wrong. |
| Who it applies to | Anybody rostered on their own at any point in a shift, including opening, closing and any time the second person is on a break. |
| What counts as working alone | Work that is isolated from help because of where it is, when it is, or what it involves. Being the only person on the premises counts. So does being the only one awake, or the only one within earshot. |
| When we will not roster one person | After 9pm, during a delivery of stock, during banking, and at any time the manager on duty judges that one person is not enough. Trade being quiet is not a reason to drop to one. |
| Before a lone shift | The manager on duty confirms who is on, what time they finish, and that they have a charged phone. The doors that should be locked are locked. |
| Check in schedule | A message to the manager on duty at the start, at the halfway point, and at the end. For a shift after 9pm, hourly. The manager answers each one. |
| If a check in is missed | The manager calls. If there is no answer, the manager calls again after five minutes, then comes to the premises or sends somebody. If there is still no contact, the police are called. Nobody is embarrassed for a false alarm and nobody ever will be. |
| Aggression or a threat | Do not argue and do not defend the takings. Step into the back room, lock the door, and call 000. Hand over anything that is asked for. The shift ends there, on full pay. |
| Opening and closing alone | Only by somebody trained to do it, never in a person’s first month, and never with the door unlocked. Park where you can see the entrance. |
| Getting home | Anybody finishing after 9pm is walked to their car by the manager, or gets a taxi or rideshare paid for by the business. This is not something to ask for. |
| Injury or illness alone | Call the manager on duty first, then 000 if you need it. The first aid kit is behind the coffee machine and the emergency contacts are on the noticeboard. |
| Phone and reception | A charged phone with reception is part of being able to work alone. If reception is bad where you are working, say so and we will roster it differently. |
| Training | Everybody who may work alone is taken through this before their first lone shift, and once a year after that. |
| Review date | Reviewed each year in March, and after any incident. |
What is in the file
- Template, blank, with each section down the side and room for the answer.
- Example, the same sheet filled in for Harbourside Coffee.
- How to use, with the steps and the mistakes below.
How to fill it in
- Write the escalation with real times and a real second step. A check in with no consequence for silence is not a control.
- Say plainly that a false alarm costs nobody anything, or people will wait before calling.
- List the times you will not roster one person, and then hold to it when a shift falls through.
- Read your state or territory regulator on remote and isolated work, since it is a hazard with its own guidance.
Common mistakes
- A check in schedule where nobody is responsible for noticing a missed one
- A new employee closing alone in their second week because the roster was short
- Telling staff to call the manager, when the manager’s phone is off after 10pm
What changes by trade
The law behind this document is the same wherever you trade, so the wording above is written once. What changes is what the trade puts in front of it.
| Cleaning | This is the defining trade for the policy: an empty building, after hours, alone. Say how a cleaner signs on and off each site and who watches for a missed sign off. rostering a cleaning run |
| Security | A lone post with an operations centre behind it is the strongest version of this. Set the check in interval in the client contract, not only in the policy. rostering a security business |
| Bottle shops | One person, late, with cash and alcohol. Say when the door is locked and whether the last hour is worked with a second person or not worked alone at all. rostering a bottle shop |
| Disability and home care | Alone in somebody else’s home rather than an empty building. Say what a worker does when a home feels unsafe, including leaving before the appointment is finished. rostering disability support |
| Bakeries | A 3am start with ovens and machinery and nobody else in. Say what happens on an injury when the next person is not due for two hours. rostering a bakery |
| Pharmacies | Restricted stock makes a lone shift a target. Say what is accessible from the floor after hours and who else knows the shift is running. rostering a pharmacy |
Sources
The official pages this wording was read against, on 22 September 2026.
When a spreadsheet stops being enough
Roster Flow shows where a shift has only one person on it while the week is still being built, which is the point at which a second pair of hands is a scheduling decision rather than an incident report.
Questions
What is on the lone worker policy template?
14 sections down the side, running from purpose to review date. The example beside them is filled in for Harbourside Coffee: working alone, checking in, and what happens when somebody does not answer.
Does the lone worker policy template work anything out for you?
No. It is a document with 14 sections to answer in your own words, not a calculator. Nothing on it is a formula.
Can I use the lone worker policy template in Google Sheets?
Yes. Open lone-worker-policy.xlsx from Google Drive, or use File, then Import, then Upload with lone-worker-policy.csv. The document and its example come across either way.
Is the wording in the lone worker policy template ready to use as it is?
The lone worker policy template is a starting point for Harbourside Coffee or any business like it, to adapt rather than sign. The wording was checked against the official sources on 22 September 2026, it is not legal advice, and it has not been through a workplace relations professional.