What Is Lone Working? Everything You Need to Know about Lone Worker Safety

Lone Shift Work Safety 

It is important to recognise the vulnerabilities of night workers, particularly those that work alone. For example, a  night workers may work an entire weekend alone in a premises with only a few colleagues across the entire site.  This means that if one of them was to be involved in an incident and wasn’t equipped with the means to communicate to others that they were in distress, it could be a considerable amount of time before they receive the help that they require. In an emergency situation, this could be fatal. Night workers are also vulnerable to physical attacks from intruders, that may attempt to break into the premises outside of working hours. Often, warehouses employ lone workers to work night shifts. The hazards generally associated with warehouse work can be amplified when individuals are working at night. Warehouses can often be located in remote areas which can make them more vulnerable to break ins. It is also common for warehouses to be in locations that are rarely visited by members of the general public, which means significant periods of time can pass before somebody notices that a worker is in distress. More information about protecting lone night workers can be found by following the above link. 

What The Law Says Regarding Lone Worker Devices

There is no specific law in the UK to protect lone workers as such. However, this doesn’t mean that lone workers should be overlooked when it comes to health and safety planning. HSE do regulate the protection of lone workers and legislation does exist to ensure that lone workers are protected as well as other workers that work alongside others. However, there is no specific law that requires businesses to equip their lone workers with safety devices, only legislation that requires all employers to provide a duty of care and access to first aid for all workers. Unfortunately, this sometimes isn’t possible, particularly if the individual is a lone worker. Although the lone worker may have access to first aid at work, alerting somebody to help them would not be possible without the means to do so, particularly if they are unconscious. Even though there is currently no legal requirement to provide safety devices, legal complications may arise if it is clear that an employer did not fulfil their legal obligations and provide sufficient care in protecting a lone worker when they received an injury and were deprived of essential medical attention. The legislation regarding lone workers can be fairly confusing, and with the many laws that apply to the protection of regular workers loosely covering lone workers, it’s always best for health and safety managers to familiarise themselves with the current legal requirements. More information on legislation can be found by following the above link. 

Employee Safety Training 

Training is a key part of any health and safety plan. All managers responsible for the health and safety of workers should keep a training record to assess the competency of their staff. It is imperative that all staff are kept up-to-date with any new legislation that is put in place, any equipment that is unfamiliar to them, and any new safety processes. Untrained staff can lead to injury, death, or legal action, so it’s vital that all staff are competent in any role that they undertake. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to get some staff members to comply when it comes to training, as many see it as a hassle, and fail to take it seriously. As a manager, it is important to learn ways of overcoming this, and getting staff to take training seriously. Many companies have been fined after injuries have occurred due to untrained staff members not knowing how to react to an incident, or use machinery correctly. Any staff member that is responsible for operating heavy machinery should not be permitted to use it until their competency has been assessed, and management are satisfied with their knowledge. If you are having issues with employees that are resistant to training, you can download a guide with how to approach this here. 

Lone Worker Tracking In Manufacturing

A tracking system can be a beneficial way of knowing the whereabouts of lone workers in your business in the event of an emergency. Many businesses have a number of lone workers working in different departments, making it difficult to keep track of them at all times. Tracking systems can be used to identify lone workers that are in need of assistance, and make responding to incidents as quick and efficient as possible. A system such as this can also have a positive effect on the morale of the lone workers in your business, meaning that their performance will be greater. If an employee feels safe and protected in their work environment, they are able to get on and do their job without the fear that should something happen to them, they won’t be found and receive the help they need. The manufacturing industry relies on constant output from employees, and a tracking system can help to achieve this. In addition to this, the dangers that individuals face in the manufacturing industry are greater than most other industries. Heavy machinery can cause fatal injuries, as can falling stock. Therefore, knowing that your workers are safe at all times is good for both the company and the employees themselves.

Tracking systems can have many other benefits to your business, more information on this is available by clicking the above link.

Do you have the right system in place to protect your lone workers?

Fill out the form below to arrange your free consultation:

• A free one-to-one phone consultation with one of our experts - no risk and no obligation!

• Honest advice and ideas to improve your current telecom solution to better work for your environment and team

• We can also arrange a face-to-face meeting to better assess your situation and give you a proposal and demo of the solution that is best fitted to your needs