7 smart ways to protect your Lone Workers

Lone Workers - General Information

What about Lone Workers and Lone Working protection?

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost 3 million accidents occurred in workplace in 2012.

To add more, data regarding work accidents in workplace are discouraging, as an average of 31 people in United Kingdom experience workplace accidents every day.

No matter what statistics indicate about workplace incidents, it is a common sense that Workers safety should be the most significant concern for all companies and organizations. To make it simple, why should a worker be efficient and focused on his work if he feels unsafe and vulnerable to risks?

Lone Workers Protection

You should always care for your Lone Workers protection level

Nowadays, the technology evolution has increased the number of people who work alone either in outdoor or indoor conditions. It makes more necessary than ever to build a robust framework to ensure maximum protection for all staff and especially for Lone Workers, as they are expected to work under heavy conditions and in most cases in remote areas.

The term Lone Worker is surely familiar in case you have worked under risky conditions or far away from being supervised by others. In any case, you should maybe care less in case you are not a Lone Worker but you should focus especially on a Lone Worker Protection Policy in case you run a business and employ workers or be the manager of several Lone Workers.

In this article, we will try to suggest solutions and focus on the proactive measures a company should take in order to provide a safe and healthy environment for its Lone Workers.

Who is a Lone Worker?

Let's segment Lone Workers into categories

Initially, let’s see who is considered to be a Lone Worker.

So, we can immediately realize the real risk.

In case the Lone Worker is not seen by other workers or a supervisor, nobody will perceive that he deals with an emergency in case there is one. At the same moment, if nobody is close to him, it will be completely impossible to help the Lone Worker in case of an urgent state. In other words, a Lone Worker is absolutely what the definition indicates: A totally alone worker.

Commonly, when we talk about Lone Workers, we think about field service workers, construction workers and in general people who work distantly from other employees of the company.

However, we should not conflict Lone Workers and distant workers. In most cases, Lone Working means something more than we guess about. We have to realize that Lone Workers are today a significant part of any company’s staff and all companies and organizations should bear in mind to provide the best strategies so as to ensure Lone Workers’ safety and prevention.

Even if there are companies which don’t occupy Lone Workers, there is a high possibility that some employees are occasional Lone Workers - just for a couple of days. A common example is the workers who participate in financial audits and should travel abroad, working far from their office.

Why should you concern about Lone Workers?

They are a vital part of your company

So, let’s take the next step.

Why should a company apply a different safety policy for Lone Workers and not include it to the general policy regarding all workers safety?

It’s a no-brainer:

Normally, Lone Workers are under higher risk than any other employee of the organization. The most important risks are closely related to heavy industrial jobs and construction workers as there is a higher possibility to get involved in an accident, like falling, collapsing etc.

But are these the only risks a Lone Worker has to come up with? Of course not.

Let us explain.

A salesman is planning to visit five different clients in five different locations. Who could guarantee about the healthy social behavior of these people and that they will not set a risk to the physical or mental health of the salesman?

So, the salesman is a Lone Worker and it is obvious that this kind of work includes a risk for him.

Now, it is needless to say that not only construction workers and field service workers are dealing with potential risks in their workplace. In case an employee has to interact with other people, communicate with them or meet them to their place, the company should hold a concern about his safety and the way he will be protected against potential threats.

Many companies are directed from a strong moral which indicates that the respect to human life is by no means their most important principle. In addittion, companies that have experienced work accidents in the past have usually evaluated that the cost of an accident is huge, compared to the cost of enacting a specific Lone Working Policy for their employees. They also consider that in the first case, a major cost of business disruption and reputational brand damage has to be taken into account.

So, lets’ get to the point: check the 7 proven ways to come up with Lone Worker Risks and offer maximum protection to your Lone Workers.

1. IDENTIFY POTENTIAL RISKS AND HAZARDS

The first rule to ensure better Lone Worker protection is to identify all involving risks and problems that may arise. We can distinct two major categories of Lone Worker Risks:

Environmental Risks

Environmental risks include slips, trips, falls, blunt force trauma or other threats which can be considered as a man down situation. We can also include in this category all health diseases, such as heart attacks, strokes, bumps or any other disease which needs immediate health care action. Despite the fact that all Workers who work in external conditions are susceptible to environmental risks, Lone Workers have to deal with increased danger due to the unknown response time after an occurring incident. That’s because Lone Workers are totally alone and nobody will see them immediately when an urgency takes place.

Social Risks

Social Risks is the most common risk that employees have to deal with in case they are interacting with many people every day. In this category, we could mention cases such as robbery, physical assault, sexual assault or mental assault.

2. CONDUCT A LONE WORKER RISK ASSESSMENT

There are many ways a company can limit the consequences of violence in workplace. Employers should always have a proactive approach, evaluating the real danger and getting it under control.

In order to face efficiently Lone Worker hazards, we should firstly make a list of all the potential risks a Lone Worker is exhibited to. So, let’s make the following questions:

Answering the above question, the company can be fully aware of the potential risks and hazards for Lone Workers. So, Lone Workers managers can now get measures in place so as to turn away some of these risks and increase protection for Lone Workers. Moreover, it is also important to periodically re-evaluate the risks so as new Lone Workers will be aware through the past experience about the difficulties they will face and be prepared to throw away risks and problems.

When conducting a Lone Working risk assessment, you should also be aware of some necessary facts:

• It is inevitable to operate some tasks just from one Lone Worker, as you increase the risk. It means that you simply have to avoid Lone Working conditions in these tasks.
• When one of your Lone Workers is working in the office or workplace of another company, be aware of the new workplace risks and the Lone Worker Policy the other company is executing.

In any case, it is one of the most significant processes to evaluate all the risks and hazards so as to avoid problems and emergency incidents for your Lone Workers.

3. TRAIN LONE WORKERS AND SUPERVISORS

Training is a vital part of any company, business and organization so as to thrive and evolve. Training boosts workers’ confidence as they feel ready to handle problems and get things done. Furthermore, training is a process of shared responsibility between the employer and the workers. The employer shows an intense will to help his workers deal with problems in a better way and to invest on the most important asset of his company: the people who work for it.

Training is indispensable. Here are some core components of an essential training course for Lone Workers:

4. APPLY A LONE WORKING POLICY

Looking from a company’s side, there is one major issue to deal with every day: security. Security has a double meaning:

Security of Workers

Security of Assets

Of course, the primary is obvious and there is no need to further analyze. What is more valuable than a human life? A core concern for any company who employs people is that they are safe to offer their services without interfering with risks or feeling anxious. The employer and the department managers of each company have to ensure the best possible circumstances for the safety of the employees.

That’s the reason why companies who have many Lone Workers need to design a clear and robust Lone Worker Policy. In most cases, the legislation sets an obligation for a lone working policy especially for workers who do not get an immediate support from their colleagues or others when facing hazards and threats.

Technology can play an important role towards this direction, but you should also make more effort, including the following:

1  Good risks assessment processes for managers and staff

2  Robust procedures that put in place measures to address identified and potential risks and deal with occurring incidents

3  Managers that share their responsibility and support the need to provide best security service

4  The sharing of information within the company and a well-documented accountable system

5  The provision of high quality training, as we mentioned above, either it means to take proactive measures or prevent the incidents.

Keep in mind that you have to refresh the documents which are related to the lone working policy:

• The Lone Worker policy will always include all the workplaces where the staff is located and works.
• Lone Workers change, so the new Lone Workers shall be aware of the problems and the potential hazards.
• As we learn more about the problems arise and the causes that lead to these problems.
• As risks change during time.
• As staff changes during time.
• As technology changes or evolves.

It is crucial for any company to provide a safe working environment to Lone Workers so that they operate their tasks without physical or mental distraction. Work dedication means higher productivity and higher income for a company. It is true that one of the major concerns of low productivity and low sales rate is a bad work ethic. As you suppose, the fear of high risks in workplace is a major cause that leads to a low work ethic.

Of course, there are many kind of jobs which include a risk that nobody can avoid. For example, a technician who has to fix a malfunction and is working from a height, will always be at a higher risk than a Lone Worker who is typing at his office late at night. Also, a driver in a car rental company (e.g. one who works in Santorini ATV rental company or Santorini Scooter rental company in Greece!) has to accomplish many tours everyday maybe alone and in higher danger due to car accident probability.

The vital part to succeed high productivity under certain risky conditions is to ensure that the company has taken care of the hazards and risks and has supplied its Lone Workers with all the necessary means to avoid emergencies or react immediately in case of one.

5. ENCOURAGE COOPERATION BETWEEN LONE WORKERS AND MANAGING STAFF

The managing staff of a Lone Workers company should be always aware of the activities, the locations and the schedules of Lone Workers. In case the company has adopted a Lone Worker Monitoring system (as you can see in chapter 6), it is an easy procedure. Lone Workers and Managers can communicate directly through the application and automate all relevant processes. However, in case the company has not yet implemented a Lone Worker system, a constant communication channel has to be activated between Lone Workers and Department managers. To assist the daily communication between the two parties, Lone Workers could provide all relevant information to Department managers, like:

6. INVEST IN A LONE WORKER MONITORING SYSTEM

We have already mentioned that it is very important to take proactive measures so as to be prepared for the future risks which Lone Workers are going to come up with.

What does this stands for?

Today, technology has affected all aspects of life and businesses. People work more efficiently and use more advanced tools in order to accelerate processes and get fully automated solutions.

So, it maybe sounds familiar to you the term “lone worker system” or “lone worker monitoring system”.

What exaclty is it?

Which are the benefits of a Lone Worker solution for you company?

• Better task management
• Scheduling
• GPS Tracking
• Automation
• History Recording
• Better time management
• Faster interaction and communication
• Timekeeping
• Reporting

7. PROVIDE THE BEST EQUIPMENT TO LONE WORKERS

It may be true that «A bad workman always blames his tools».

But what if these tools are not in place or are not well maintained?

Then, you cannot blame your workers for inability to accomplish their tasks.

Employers are responsible to develop all the necessary procedures to ensure that Lone Workers will have all the necessary equipment to execute properly their daily tasks. Being well equipped means that that the Lone Worker will not only execute his tasks, but he will also feel more safe and protected from external risks.

For example, just think about an electricity technician who works in remote locations and his electrical equipment is not well maintained or not serviced at all. The Worker is under an emergent risk.

Also, just think about security guards who don’t bear all the necessary security guard equipment like belts, uniforms, etc. It means that they are daily exposed to risks and the company cannot in any case guarantee about their safety.

We have to make a special reference in case Lone Workers need vehicles to operate. Not to mention more, the managing staff of the company which employs Lone Workers should answer the following questions:

• How will Lone Workers get to their location and how safe is the vehicle that will carry them there?
• Will the Lone Worker drive by himself in order to reach to the location? If yes, is he properly trained to drive company’s’ vehicles?
• How far away from the vehicle will the Lone Worker be during executing his tasks? Will he have immediate access to it?

In case the job of the Lone Worker depends directly from his vehicle, then the employers have to pay special attention to it.

Just think firemen. Their job is depending from their vehicle. If the vehicle is not in excellent condition and fully serviced, it is possible that not only they will not carry out their duties, but they will be vulnerable to major threats regarding their life. Nobody should ignore it and employers should do their best in order to ensure protection for this kind of Lone Workers.

MYLONEWORKERS MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The simplest way to monitor your Lone Workers in real-time through advanced Internet of Things technology