Lone Worker Safety
Lone worker safety is a critical concern for employees who are tasked with working alone. These workers are often in remote locations and confined spaces where help may not be readily available.
Lone worker safety starts with creating a policy that outlines best practices for employees to follow. Developing such a policy should include training programs, drills, and role-plays.
Don’t Perform Tasks That Can’t Be Done Safely
Lone workers are a hugely important group of employees who often face dangerous scenarios that those in traditional offices rarely think about. Whether they’re working alone in a remote field or forest, on a cell tower site far away from the nearest town, doing curbside delivery of valuable merchandise, or opening a store location for a late night shift, these individuals are at risk because there is no one around to help them should the situation escalate into a threat to their personal safety.
A thorough hazard assessment is critical to the success of a lone worker program, and it should be performed by qualified personnel rather than just a supervisor. This should include interviewing associates and surveying them about the types of risks they perceive in their job. This is because workplace circumstances are often dynamic, and it’s not enough to just identify the obvious risks in a hazard assessment and hope for the best.
As the legendary Chinese general Sun Tzu once said, “Know your enemy and know yourself.” That’s why it is essential for a company to provide its lone workers with emergency communication plans that are tailored to their unique working situations. This way, they’ll be able to avoid, prepare for, or quickly respond to any situations that may develop. This could range from an abrasive customer to a violent assault or even a hostage situation.
Don’t Take Unnecessary Risks
Lone workers face countless dangers that can easily escalate into serious situations. lone worker alarm device They may encounter falling objects, unstable equipment, criminal acts of violence, or even weather related issues. The key is to teach employees to be mindful of these risks and not be afraid to speak up if they think something is unsafe. It’s also important to teach them to scan their surroundings and look for any signs of trouble, unauthorized people on property, or anything else that could be potentially dangerous.
Your lone worker safety program should include a way for employees to signal for help. This can be done with a panic button or with a hands-free device that allows them to trigger an audible alarm in the event they are being threatened. These systems should be used in conjunction with a timed monitoring session, so that if the worker does not check-in or the device isn’t activated, an emergency response will be sent to their location immediately.
It is also important to provide training and education to your employees on the dangers that they may encounter while working alone. They should be aware that they are more susceptible to injury and assault due to their lack of visibility in the workplace and that they can make a difference by speaking up. In addition to implementing the necessary programs and tools, it is also important to stay up to date on any changes that might affect a lone worker’s safety.
Don’t Take Shortcuts
Lone workers are vulnerable to a variety of safety hazards. These include slips, trips and falls (the cause of many workplace accidents) as well as exposure to hazardous chemicals and confined spaces. It is important that safety managers consider the specific needs of their lone working staff and take steps to protect them from these risks.
One way to do this is to implement a lone worker policy that encourages the practice of the dos and don’ts outlined here. Another is to provide lone workers with a safety device that allows them to communicate with their manager and a monitoring team in emergency situations. This can help them feel confident that they are not alone and that someone will always be there to help.
AlertMedia’s lone worker safety solution is an app that gives lone workers the ability to signal for help with just one button press. When a lone associate’s panic button is pressed or their timed monitoring session expires, a signal is sent to our 24-hour Monitoring Center and law enforcement dispatch is immediately initiated at the user’s GPS location. AlertMedia’s hands-free safety solution is a powerful deterrent to those who would seek to harm lone workers, giving them the confidence to carry out their duties with peace of mind. Learn more about our lone worker safety solution by listening to our podcast on the subject with SafetyLine Lone Worker CEO Lester Tiro.
Don’t Assume That You Are Invincible
Lone workers may work in a wide variety of settings and situations. These can range from a remote field or forest to a cell tower site or even a custodian or service technician working an overnight shift in a store. Whether they are dealing with customers who may be aggressive or encountering wild animals on the job, these individuals must always be prepared to face hazardous conditions.
This is why a thorough risk assessment must be performed before these employees go to work. This will allow them to be aware of any potential hazards that they may encounter, and this information can also help in the creation of an effective strategy to mitigate those dangers. Unfortunately, workplace circumstances can change quickly, which is why these assessments must be a constant part of the operation’s safety culture.
Additionally, these workers should be provided with a way to quickly signal for assistance. This can be accomplished with a specialist lone worker monitoring app such as AlertMedia’s hands-free safety solution. This app works in conjunction with a panic button or timed monitoring session, and when the panic button is pressed or the timer expires, an alarm is triggered and the AlertMedia Monitoring Center immediately receives the notification. This allows law enforcement to be dispatched to the location and deal with the threat swiftly.
