Every day, lone healthcare workers not only dedicate themselves to helping vulnerable people, they also put themselves directly in the line of danger. Physical and verbal assaults against carers are unfortunately commonplace, with the workplace violence injury rate higher than most American occupations.

The nature of lone work makes this an impossible crisis to ignore, as workers are left exposed with nobody to call on for support. In this article, we’ll shine a light on the worrying statistics that show the level of danger healthcare lone workers are under during visits.

Who are the healthcare lone workers?

The broad definition of a lone worker is somebody who spends most of their time at work without direct supervision. The number of lone workers operating globally is growing year on year, with over 25 million lone workers based in the US. A substantial portion of these lone workers reside in the healthcare sector, with jobs including:

Community nurses: These are nurses that travel around local areas providing skilled medical care alone at patient’s homes.
Home care-givers: Home care-givers offer non-clinical care at patient’s homes, instead performing tasks such as bathing, dressing, and providing companionship.
Paramedics and emergency response: Emergency response workers spend a lot of time in high-risk environments, such as crime scenes and roadside accidents.
Community mental health carers: These provide mental health support in private settings and in patient’s homes, often dealing with unpredictable and dangerous behavior.
Primary care staff: GPs, dentists, and pharmacists that carry out work alone behind closed doors. In small, rural areas, practices will have very few staff working in them, which can increase risk.

The risks that lone healthcare workers face

Healthcare workers across the US face risks every time they go to work, with 57 workplace assaults taking place each day, according to the NIH. Home healthcare workers who visit patients’ homes alone each day are particularly vulnerable to this threat. So much so, the NIH also states that between 2-11% of homecare workers report facing physical assault, with up to 65% facing verbal assaults.

Let’s take a closer look at the risks faced by lone healthcare workers.

Violence and physical aggression

Home healthcare workers are exposed to four times more workplace violence than in the private industry. Patients with cognitive impairments or dementia often display confusion or agitation as part of their condition. This can cause them to act out violently, leaving the lone carer having to fend for themselves using de-escalation techniques.

Healthcare workers are also at risk of attack from the patient’s family, if they believe their relative isn’t receiving the correct care. It’s not just humans that present a threat either, with confused or territorial pets also being a problem.

Female home healthcare workers can be subject to inappropriate and unwanted sexual advances in one-on-one situations, which can lead to long-term mental health effects.

Verbal aggression

Verbal aggression is unfortunately a common experience for home healthcare workers. Once again, this could be a result of a cognitive impairment or mental disorder. It could also be down to the sheer frustration of the patient, not being able to live completely independently and lashing out at their carer.

Unfamiliar surroundings

Visiting the homes of patients is risky in itself. Workers won’t instantly know their escape route if things were to go wrong. Homes may also be unsanitary, filled with pests, or have poor air quality. There are potential trip hazards to consider, which can cause genuine injury to healthcare workers. Without lone worker technology, such as a device with automatic fall detection, a healthcare worker won’t be able to call for help if incapacitated.

Working alone

Working alone by its very nature is extremely risky. Without a colleague on hand to help out in case of an aggressive attack or raise the alarm when an injury is sustained, workers can quickly become isolated. Unlike hospitals, patients’ homes aren’t blessed with security, so without a lone worker alarm, healthcare professionals are exposed.

The scale of the problem and a case study

An aging population has rocketed the need for home healthcare workers across the US, growing quicker than any other occupation. The American Society on Aging suggests that 772,000 new jobs in the industry will be created by 2034. With more workers in the field, the statistics on workplace violence is only expected to rise.

As mentioned, 2-11% of homecare workers report experiencing physical assault at work, with the number of cases likely to be higher due to reports not being filed. In fact, healthcare workers are five times more likely to suffer a workplace violence injury than the general working population of the US, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

To help keep home healthcare workers safe, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) expects employers to assess risks and put safety measures in place to protect staff. It has the power to act if an injury or fatality could have been prevented, as it did in May 2024 against care company Elara Caring.

The Joyce Grayson murder

In October 2023, 63-year-old Joyce Grayson was attending an appointment at a halfway house for sex offenders in Willimantic, CT on behalf of the company Elara Caring. After missing several of her following appointments that day, Willimantic police were called, eventually finding Grayson’s body in a padlocked basement at the halfway house. The death was ruled as a homicide.

After an OSHA investigation, Elara Caring, one of the US’ largest care companies, was ruled to have long been exposing carers to workplace violence from patients with backgrounds of aggressive behavior. The company was also cited for not providing OSHA with injury and illness records within four business hours.

The company was fined $163,000 as a result of the charges made against it.

OSHA guidelines for employers regarding workplace violence

Healthcare and social services is one of four industries that OSHA believes to have a heightened risk of workplace violence. Under the organization’s General Duty Clause, steps must be taken to protect workers within these industries.

Risk assessments are an absolute necessity to protect workers, helping employers to determine whether it is safe to send a carer to a certain patient alone.

OSHA also requires employers with 10 or more employees to keep injury and illness records. These records are also important for the companies themselves, as they help identify trends and improve the safety of carers.

Manage the risks to lone healthcare workers with SureSafe

Ensuring the safety of lone healthcare workers takes a multi-dimensional approach, with strict safeguarding and risk assessments in place. Another vital step is implementing the use of lone worker safety alarms, such as those on offer from SureSafe.

Our devices are ideal for lone healthcare workers, featuring a discreet panic alarm that can be pressed if a situation starts to escalate out of control. This will alert a response team that will immediately send support to the carer’s location, which can easily be found with the device’s GPS tracker.

With a SureSafe lone worker alarm, healthcare workers can operate with the peace of mind that they’re protected during dangerous situations. For more information about our products, contact us on 888 919 4472. You can also contact us using our live chat, or request a call back from one of our experts.