How to manage the risks of working alone

How to safeguard your business, yourself, and your lone workers

A lone worker is someone who works by themselves without close or direct supervision, even occasionally or for short periods of time, regardless of the sector they work in. They have the responsibility of taking reasonable care of themselves (and other people affected by their activities) but their health and safety are ultimately the responsibility of their employer. It doesn’t matter if they are working from home, alone at a fixed business address, on the road, or even volunteering. Their employers are responsible under the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations.

DID YOU KNOW…
Due to inaction, if an incident happens to a lone worker, the maximum fine was capped at £20,000 for each breach, it’s now unlimited. In the most serious cases, responsible people could also face imprisonment or disqualification from acting as a company director for up to 15 years!!

How to safeguard your business, yourself, and your lone workers

Putting a healthy and safe working environment in place for lone workers can be different from other workers. Some additional things need to be considered (as set out by the HSE)

■ assessing areas of risk including violence, manual handling, the medical suitability of the individual to work alone, and whether the workplace itself presents a risk to them

■ understanding the difference between control and uncontrolled environments & risks. eg visiting a client’s flat vs working late in your office.

■ requirements for training, levels of experience, and how best to monitor and supervise them

■ having systems in place to keep in touch with them and respond to any incident

What is Lone worker monitoring?

How would you know if a member of your team has had a medical incident, a work-related accident, been attacked or just felt comfortable in the situation they found themselves in? What’s the best way to monitor a lone worker, and how can you put a system in place to keep in touch?

“Monitoring” can sound quite invasive and big brother. It’s not about “tracking” a lone worker but having a suitable system in place to ensure you know they are OK. That is your legal duty of care.

There are many lone working monitoring options available. In their own right, they can be useful and effective tools of keeping track of employees when they are working and ensuring they are safe.

A buddy up system
A phone-in system to a designated receiver
Monitoring devices, specialist hardware
Smartphone applications

Manual systems do sound simple and can be effective (the first two options) but all the costs are hidden and totally rely on both lone worker and supervisor/buddy always being available, always remembering, and always recording. There is no fail-to-safe.

Look at several systems and choose wisely. Ensure you define what you actually need to meet your daily requirements. It’s easy to find you’re more for features that don’t actually need and don’t benefit the organisation and or provide protection for the risks your employees actually face.

The system needs to simply embed in your daily routines and is flexible enough to work how your organisations wants.

Meeting the HSE requirements is a simple process. The system that you decide to embrace needs to be fully tested, to ensure that it’s flexible to meet all your different lone worker risks/roles and everyone knows how to use it effectively. One size doesn’t need to fit all — If you have a few roles that are at constant threat of extreme violence, then a specialist hardware system may be worth the cost. For everyone else who is low risk, then a simpler, more cost-effective system may be more suitable.

The benefits of using App technology for lone workers:

It doesn’t require supervisors to make periodic visits, as lone workers can “check-in” electronically.
A simple panic alarm can be activated immediately, warning a designated contact of an incident.
The company does not need to involve staff to constantly monitor lone workers as the system automatically escalates warnings and detailed information, including Location (if activated), by text or email, so the relevant person can take control of the situation.
A complete activity audit log is constantly recorded, so you know where your staff was and when.

Which Lone worker monitoring would we recommend?

Our MyTeamSafe App is designed to reduce the risks of working alone and to help organisations demonstrate their Duty of Care, without the need for impersonal call centers that don’t know your staff or your organisation.

The 15 key features of the MyTeamSafe App include:

Start and stop lone working sessions easily with an effortless check-in
Audible “nudge” alerts (with selectable different sounds)
Range of notification options (email, SMS, push, automated voice call)
Custom Strategies — multiple strategies that align with the associated lone worker risks
Flexible Escalations — earlier/quicker escalations and a wider audience may be notified — Automatically switching between Supervisor & Deputy.
SMS messages as a fall back when there’s no Wifi, 3G or 4G
If the battery dies the lone workers’ session continues to run, and escalations still occur informing the relevant supervisor/manager
Panic alarm, for those scenarios where the lone worker wishes to immediately escalate to their supervisor (or predefined contacts)
Send/Log “Notes” to Supervisor to ensure they are always in the loop
Auto-start sessions eliminate the risks of staff forgetting to initiate a lone-working session, ensuring the organisation maintains their duty of care
Fire roster, is a separate feature that allows users to simply confirm if they are on-site, off-site, or absent during an emergency situation
GPS location details can be captured
Live web portal (admin dashboard and administration)
Core Dashboard information also visible on App for Supervisors
Activity Summary reports prove your protection and ensure everyone is using the system correctly.

MyTeamSafe is suitable for those that always work alone, even the occasional or short-duration situations such as simply working late or opening/locking up. MyTeamSafe focuses on a simple “set and forget” concept, keeping the organisation in control.

Simple
Secure
Scalable
Small monthly cost

With the MyTeamSafe App your lone working requirements are covered, and your employees are safer.

MyTeamSafe®, an award-winning lone-worker App & proud supporter of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust