Regulation of lone work in Canada

How do you define a lone worker? What risks is he exposed to? What is the employer's responsibility towards its employees? How to reduce the risk of accidents and provide emergency assistance as soon as possible? Here's everything you need to know about lone worker protection regulations!Define a lone worker ? What risks is he exposed to? What is the responsibility of the employer or company manager with respect to its employees, in particular by evaluating isolated work situations? How rreduce the risk of an accident and provide assistance as soon as possible, in particular by improving the working conditions and by implementing preventive measures? Here's everything you need to know about regulations on Lone worker protection ! And the rights isolated workers!

tribunal, travailleur isolé
Schedule my demo !How does it work?

Can an employee refuse to work alone?

Is lone working allowed? Is it possible to refuse to work alone? The situation is different for federal companies and in each province.
Federal Companies
Alberta
British Columbia
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Northwest Territories
Nova scotia
Nunavut
Ontario
Prince Edward Island
Québec
Sakatchewan
Yukon
‍
Cartes avec des poi,nts d'interrogations

Definition of a lone worker

In practice, isolated work is present in all sectors: building, construction, care and maintenance, industry, security, security, industry, security, security, industry, security, industry, logistics, transport, communities... So many situations for which the employer must be able to ensure the safety of the employee in order to protect his physical and mental health.

Prevention also aims to ensure the well-being of lone workers, in addition to their physical safety.

We are now adding the teleworking whose massive development poses new security challenges.

Ensmeble d'images montrant les visages de travailleurs isolés.

What are the risks for a lone worker?

Risque accident pour les travailleurs isolés

Physical risk

The situation of lone work can expose employees to falls and external violence (verbal or physical aggression) without anyone being able to assist them.

risque pour les travailleurs isolés

Medical risk

Certain individuals may have medical conditions that cause sudden symptoms requiring special assistance, such as fainting, dizziness, panic attacks, heat stress, or epileptic seizures. In such cases, lone work should be avoided.

Risque psychique pour les travailleurs isolés

Psychosocial risks

Lone work exposes employees to an insecure situation, becoming a significant risk factor for stress, anxiety, burnout, or illness.

What to do to protect a lone worker?

Working alone is not risky in itself, but it does increase the probability of accident And of severity of damage. It is in fact considered that the speed of intervention is decisive for the survival of an accident victim. The employer must therefore identify employee isolation situations, whether prolonged or occasional, usual or fortuitous. Article L 4121-1 of the Labor Code in fact requires the company to set up a preventive approach in the company to ensure the health and safety of employees.

Travailleurs isolés souriant
Schedule my demo !How does it work?

Identify the risks of lone workers on a single safety document

The employer must draw up a single occupational risk assessment document (DUERP — L 4121-3-1 of the Labor Code) to centralize all the risks identified in the work environment and respond to them by means of action. While isolated work generally involves itinerant employees (technicians, workers, safety guards, etc.), it is also essential to regularly check equipment and procedures during technical interventions in order to guarantee safety and regulatory compliance. It may also concern the sedentary worker at his desk as long as he is out of the sight and voice of another collaborator.

This concerns in particular working in staggered hours, At night, or the employee working remotely for whom the employer must take the necessary measures to ensure their safety in the event of aggression or discomfort.

In practice, the employer uses organizational, technical and human resources to eliminate isolated work (working in pairs, supervision, etc.). If isolated work persists, it is necessary to set up a Employee information on risks and preventive measures. Finally, the employer deploys alert methods.
DUERP
Soyez en sécurité avec neovigie

Need advice?

Neovigie is a unique and innovative solution, with state-of-the-art features. In order to be as specific as possible, the Tracking of the VigieApp mobile application is based on GPS data from the smartphone.

We then retrieve the position of the lone worker, and transmit it in the case of an alarm. In order to provide reliable information, we also transmit the GPS position reliability indicator, which allows supervisors to assess the relevance of the information.

When an alarm is triggered, the mapping part of the VigieControl web platform is refocused directly on the place where the alert was triggered. This then allows the supervisor to Locate the lone worker. This same map is also visible directly on the supervisor's VigieApp mobile application.
Contact Us Today

Can you refuse to work alone?

The law does not prohibit isolated work, but it requires the employer to guarantee the safety and physical integrity of its employees by implementing appropriate preventive measures. If an employee considers that his isolation presents a serious and imminent danger to his health or safety, he can exercise his right of withdrawal (article L.4131-1 of the Labor Code).

The right of withdrawal allows the employee to leave his job without the agreement of the employer in the event of serious and imminent danger. The employer cannot punish him or deduct him from his salary until the danger has been resolved. ‍ However, this right only applies if the risk is real and immediate. The company must therefore assess each situation and put in place effective mechanisms : DATI/PTI, active surveillance, working in pairs, rapid emergency procedures. If these guarantees are insufficient, the employee may legitimately refuse to carry out the mission as it is.
Respect de la vie privée

Prohibited or supervised activities for lone workers

These prohibitions relate to situations where the absence of immediate assistance can lead to serious consequences in the event of an incident.

Prohibited activities

Some activities are prohibited for a lone worker. These prohibitions concern people working on elevators, freight elevators, elevators whose speed does not exceed 0.15 meters per second, escalators, moving walks or automatic vehicle parking installations. (article R4543-20 of the Labor Code).

Manual port with a mass greater than 30 kg
Activities requiring the wearing of respiratory, insulating or filtering personal protective equipment with assisted ventilation
The manual installation or removal of device components with a mass greater than 50 kg
The installation or removal of elevator traction cables
Work at heights that require a fall arrest system (e.g. intervention on pylons, scaffolding, etc.).
Maneuvering machines or trucks without adequate visibility (e.g. loading/unloading in a blind area).
Handling dangerous substances, especially those that present risks of inhalation, burns, or explosions.
Work in wells, galleries or confined spaces, where the lack of oxygen or the accumulation of toxic gases can be fatal.
Interventions on high-voltage electrical networks that require permanent monitoring.
Work that exposes the risk of falling into the water, such as the maintenance of pipes, dams or port docks.
Handling firearms, dangerous tools or explosives, due to the immediate risks of accidents.
Work in enclosed spaces, where the absence of ventilation or confinement can be dangerous (e.g. tanks, tanks, etc.).

The article R.4543-21 of the Labour Code strictly regulates the interventions carried out by an isolated worker on the roof of a moving passenger compartment. This type of situation presents increased risks, including falls, ofsmashing Or of imbalance due to the movements of the machine.

To guarantee the safety of workers, this article imposes specific conditions intervention in isolation situations:

  • The mobile home or the equipment concerned must be equipped with a maneuver control device inspection to allow the worker to intervene safely.
  • Of fall risk prevention measures must be set up as guardrails or secure platforms.
  • If no collective solution is possible, the employer must provide for a Adapted PPE, like a harness with a life line.

Activities with active surveillance

Other work situations require active supervision by a person competent to intervene, Give the alert and first aid in case of an accident. For example, the following cannot be done by a lone worker:

Work carried out in an establishment by an external company at night or in an isolated place (Article R4512-13 of the Labor Code).
Handling dangerous chemicals (article R 4412-11 of the Labor Code)
Work in a hyperbaric environment (article R 4461-47 of the Labor Code)
Working at height (article R4323-61 of the Labor Code)
Some electrical work (article R 4544-6 of the Labor Code)

Legal obligation to equip the lone worker with a PTI DATI

Labor code

The Labor Code imposes on companies an obligation to ensure the safety and health of their employees (L4121-1). In the event of an accident, the courts will determine whether the measures taken were sufficient to meet this obligation. For certain activities, the legislator requires the provision of an alarm device. For example, in the context of interventions on lifting equipment, a lone worker must be able to report any distress situation and be rescued as soon as possible (R 4543-19).

Collective agreements

Collective agreements sometimes contain provisions on the provision of DATI. It is therefore essential for an HSE manager to take stock of the collective agreement that applies to his company in order to know the measures specific to his sector of activity.

CNAMTS

The CNAMTS issues recommendations that may recommend the implementation of a DATI, such as the R252 ROAD concerning isolated and dangerous workplaces. These recommendations are not mandatory, but failure to comply with them may result in legal consequences, such as the characterization of an inexcusable fault.

What is the risk of the employer in the event of an accident if it has not provided alert solutions?

The legal responsibility of the employer

The Labor Code is clear: the employer is responsible for the safety of its employees. According to Article L 4121-1 of the Labor Code, the employer must ensure the health and safety of its employees regardless of the company's sector of activity. It must therefore implement the means to limit the risks of accidents for its employees and allow the isolated worker to be rescued in case of danger.
Employers are regularly condemned for failing to comply with a safety obligation or for putting others in danger in cases where they have not provided isolated workers with DATIs or effective solutions to protect isolated workers.

They face high fines and prison sentences.

Thus, by way of illustration, we can cite the judgment of Court of Cassation, Criminal Chamber, of 25 November 2008, which sentenced the person responsible for an isolated worker for involuntary manslaughter to 3 months suspended imprisonment and a fine of 3750 euros for the lack of implementation of preventive measures in the face of the situation of isolated work.
LoneWorker on a bike
Soyez en sécurité avec neovigie

Obligation of means or obligation of results?

Far from being a simple formality, the prevention of isolated work is based on an obligation to achieve results. Setting up a PTI or a DATI is not enough: the employer must ensure that these devices are operational and allow for effective intervention in the event of an incident.

The case law is unequivocal: in the event of an accident, it is not enough to have measures planned on paper; it is necessary to prove that they are effective and adapted to the real situation. A poorly configured device, an inapplicable procedure in the field or a lack of responsiveness may suffice to characterize the endangerment of others (Court of Cassation of November 12, 2020).

Choosing a DATI PTI solution adapted to your lone worker?


The DATI device NEOVIGIE allows the employee a quick communication and in real time to report an emergency situation and to receive help. Its advanced functions allow you to display alert messages, to establish telephone communications from Removal of doubt to the lone worker. This dedicated and robust tool guarantees great stability, long-lasting autonomy and total independence from third-party operating systems.

You can also transform your mobile into a DATI thanks to the PTI NEOVIGIE mobile application, available on Android and iOS. Flexible according to your needs and easy to use, it allows your teams to configure up to 8 types of alerts different, in particular to detect falls and loss of mobility.

Schedule my demo !How does it work?

Respect the RGPD with a DATI - PTI solution that complies with confidentiality requirements

Protection by the RGPD

The RGPD Protect them personal data, that is to say information that makes it possible to identify a natural person or to make him identifiable. It can be a name, a first name or any other intersecting privacy information such as a customer number, a telephone number, an address. Data processing operations concern both the collection of this information and its recording, organization or storage. The GDPR is required for companies that process personal data, as long as they are established on the territory of the European Union or their activity targets European residents directly.

PTI - DATI and respect for privacy

Respecting the privacy of our users is at the heart of our concerns. By setting up a PTI mobile application or a DATI box to protect an isolated worker, the employer processes personal data to identify the employee. To avoid any risk of an attack on the confidentiality, availability and integrity of this data, NEOVIGIE carried out an impact study. The PTI DATI NEOVIGIE solution ensures the protection of your employees, in full compliance with the RGPD for the respect of their privacy.

Data organization and processing

The data contained in the PTI mobile application or the DATI box is organized and processed to meet the requirements of the RGPD. Our Data Privacy Officer ensures collect only essential data to the safety of your employees, to anonymize sensitive data, to encrypt it and to store it on secure servers.

FAQs

Many of you are asking us about the protection of lone workers. Find our answers to the most frequently asked questions here.

A Neovigie expert answers your questions!

Lionel Lewin Fleur
Lionel Lewin Fleur

Telecom expert, passionate about technology.

logo de linkedin

Lionel Lewin is president of Neovigie and an expert in protecting lone workers. A former lawyer, he combines legal expertise and technological innovation to support companies' compliance and strengthen their security. He played a key role in developing Neovigie's lone worker solutions, guaranteeing optimal worker protection.

Its motto: “Combining technology and compliance for uncompromising security.”

No items found.
Neovigie
1455 Drummond Street suite2B Montréal QC H3G1W3 - Canada
+1 (438) 444-1068
contact@neovigie.com
Resources
RegulationNewsDownload our Documentation
Inside Neovigie
History and ValuesContact Us
Book a demo
Discover
our channel
Neovigie© 2025 Copyright NeovigieLegal noticePrivacy