How Many Lone Workers Are Attacked Every Day? (2026 UK Data)

Lone working is part of everyday life for many UK organisations, from shop staff closing up at night to carers visiting clients at home and engineers on remote sites. Working alone gives people flexibility and independence, but it can also mean there is nobody nearby if a situation turns aggressive.

So how many lone workers are attacked every day in the UK? The most widely quoted figure is around 150 a day, covering both physical and verbal attacks, based on British Crime Survey data. More recent figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show violence at work is still a daily issue, with around 1,900 incidents of violence and threats at work every day in England and Wales in 2024/25.

Book an exploratory call

In this article we explain what a lone worker is, set out the latest statistics, look at which roles are most at risk and share the steps employers can take to keep people safe.

What is a lone worker?

HSE defines lone workers as “those who work by themselves without close or direct supervision” (HSE). That covers people who work alone for a whole shift, such as a security officer on a night patrol, and people who spend part of their day alone, such as a community nurse between home visits, a delivery driver on the road or a shop worker opening up before colleagues arrive. It also includes people working outside normal hours or away from a fixed base. Our guide to what a lone worker is covers the definition in more detail.

Lone worker attack statistics: the latest figures

HSE’s violence at work statistics for 2024/25, published in January 2026 and based on the Crime Survey for England and Wales, record 689,000 incidents of violence at work over the year: 370,000 physical assaults and 319,000 threats. In total, 329,000 working adults experienced violence at work at least once, and 38% of assaults left the victim with an injury.

These figures cover all workers rather than lone workers specifically, as no official body counts attacks on people working alone separately. What they do show is that the roles with the highest risk of violence are the same roles where people most often work by themselves.

Which lone workers are most at risk of attack?

Retail workers

Shop workers face some of the highest levels of abuse. The BRC Crime Report 2026, published in February 2026, recorded around 1,600 incidents of violence and abuse against retail staff every day between September 2024 and August 2025. Staff who open up, close up or cover quieter shifts alone are particularly exposed. See how Vismo helps counter rising retail violence and protects retail teams.

Health and social care workers

The NHS Staff Survey 2025, published in March 2026, found that around one in seven NHS staff had experienced physical violence from patients, relatives or the public in the previous 12 months. Community nurses, paramedics and home carers often face that risk alone in someone else’s home. See how Vismo supports health and social care teams.

Security and enforcement roles

Protective service roles, including security staff, have the highest risk of any occupation group in HSE’s 2024/25 data, at 6.8%. Security officers and door supervisors frequently patrol or respond to incidents alone, often at night, which is why Vismo’s security services solutions combine proof of presence with live location.

Drivers, engineers and field workers

Transport and mobile machine drivers face twice the average risk, according to HSE. Drivers, engineers and field technicians spend much of the day alone and on the move, which makes it harder to raise the alarm and harder for anyone to know where they are. Vismo works with engineering and field teams to close that gap.

Why do many incidents go unreported?

Every statistic depends on people reporting what happened, and lone working makes that less likely. There is often no witness, verbal abuse can come to feel like part of the job, and if earlier reports led to no action, people stop reporting. A quick, simple way for staff to log incidents matters as much as a way to call for help.

Is lone working legal in the UK?

Yes, but employers must manage the risks before anyone works alone. Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, employers must protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees so far as is reasonably practicable, and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, which for lone workers should cover the risk of violence. Retail workers also gained extra protection in 2026, when the Crime and Policing Act 2026 created a new criminal offence of assaulting a retail worker.

How to reduce the risk of attack for lone workers

The same practical steps apply across every high-risk sector:

Assess the risk of violence, role by role. Identify who works alone, when and where, and what could trigger conflict, from handling cash or stock to delivering bad news.
Train staff to spot and defuse conflict. De-escalation skills and clear rules on when to walk away reduce the chance of a situation turning physical.
Give people a discreet way to call for help. A mobile panic button on their phone, or a dedicated lone worker device with panic alert, man down detection and GPS tracking, lets someone raise the alarm without escalating the situation. For roles where staff need to signal silently, read our guide to duress buttons.
Know where people are. Live location through the Vismo Locate & Protect app means responders go straight to the right place.
Make sure someone is watching. Alerts need to reach a team that can act, whether that is your own security team or 24/7 monitoring.
Record and review every incident. Consistent records build the evidence you need to improve controls and, where needed, support a prosecution.

How Vismo protects people who work alone

Vismo’s lone worker safety solution brings these steps together in one platform. Staff can raise a panic alert from the Locate & Protect app or from a wearable device such as the Vismo Lone Worker Badge, which adds automatic man down detection for the moments someone cannot press a button at all. Alerts and live location arrive in the Vismo Secure Portal, so your team, or a monitoring centre, can respond and escalate straight away, and every alert and response is recorded to help you evidence your duty of care. Location is shared for safety, not surveillance; read how we approach lone worker privacy concerns.

Lone worker attacks FAQ

What percentage of the UK workforce are lone workers?

There is no official figure. Neither HSE nor the ONS publishes a national count of lone workers, partly because lone working describes how a job is done rather than a job title. Industry estimates are widely quoted but vary, so treat any single number with caution.

Does verbal abuse count as an attack?

In most workplace statistics, yes. The HSE and BRC figures in this article include threats and abuse alongside physical assaults. Employers should record verbal abuse too, as it is often an early warning of physical violence.

Do these figures cover the whole of the UK?

Not all of them. HSE’s violence at work statistics cover England and Wales only, and the NHS Staff Survey covers NHS organisations in England. The BRC Crime Report draws on retailers across the UK.

What should a lone worker do if they are attacked?

Get to a safe place if possible, raise the alarm using your panic button, device or phone, and call 999 if you are in immediate danger. Once safe, report the incident to your employer even if you were not hurt, so it is recorded and the risk can be reviewed. Our personal safety tips cover what to do before, during and after an incident.