Lone Worker Travel: What Employers Should Consider

What makes a journey feel exposed

Solo business travel is uncomfortable in fairly predictable circumstances: arriving somewhere unfamiliar after dark, waiting alone outside a building at the end of an event, finishing a site visit in an area with no obvious way back, or standing at a station in a city the traveller does not know. The discomfort is rarely about probability and mostly about not having a plan, which is precisely the thing an employer can fix in advance.

Sending the details before the journey

The single most effective measure is unglamorous: tell the traveller who is collecting them, in what vehicle, and where. A confirmation sent the day before, giving the chauffeur name and the collection point, removes the moment of uncertainty where somebody has to decide whether to get into a car. It also gives them something to check against, which is far more useful than a general instruction to be careful.

• Send chauffeur name and vehicle details to the traveller in advance
• Agree a specific collection point rather than a street name
• Give the traveller the WhatsApp thread rather than an internal chain
• Confirm the return leg before the outbound one is made

Check-in habits that are not intrusive

Formal lone-worker check-in systems suit some sectors and feel heavy-handed in others. A lighter version works for most business travel: the traveller messages when they are in the vehicle and again when they arrive, and somebody knows to notice if that second message does not come. The point is not surveillance but the existence of a person who would ask a question, which is what most informal arrangements lack.

Remote sites and the return leg

A visit to an industrial estate, a rural site or a regional office often ends in a place where nothing is running and taxis do not circulate. The outbound leg is usually planned; the return frequently is not, because the finishing time is unknown. Booking the return with an open time, rather than leaving it to be arranged on the day, is the difference between a manageable evening and a traveller standing at a gate with a phone and no signal.

Candidates, contractors and people who are not employees

Assessment centres, graduate selection days and interviews bring people to your offices who have no relationship with your organisation, often travelling a long way and sometimes for the first time. The same considerations apply, with an added one: they will not ask for help. Arranging travel rather than reimbursing it, telling the candidate what to expect, and making sure somebody knows when they were due to arrive is both safer and a better first impression.

Contractors and agency staff sit in a similar position, particularly on late shifts and at sites they have not visited before, and it is worth deciding as a matter of policy whether your travel arrangements extend to them rather than resolving it case by case at eleven at night. Whichever way that lands, saying so clearly is better than leaving an agency worker to guess whether they are covered by an arrangement they have heard other people mention.

Small things that make a difference

A collection point inside a station rather than on the forecourt, a vehicle that waits until the traveller is inside their building at the end of the night, a chauffeur who does not need the destination announced aloud in a group, and a route that avoids a long walk in the dark. None of this is complicated, and all of it is easier to arrange in advance than to improvise.

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