Are your lone workers at high, medium or low risk?
Do you have the right cover?
Many organisations may have identified which of their employees are categorised as lone workers, but they may not have considered what level of risk those employees are at, as not all lone workers will be exposed to the same risks.
If you take a council as an example, there will be employees that work in derelict areas and go into peoples’ homes to service and maintain the property, collect debts or to visit vulnerable residents. There will also be engineers that change or fix CCTV cameras that have been vandalised in the local community and who may be open to being threatened when doing so. These situations, and many like them, could put an employee in danger and could cause them harm. They would therefore be recognised as at high risk lone workers.
It is advisable to equip employees who are at high risk with a discrete panic button, such as the UrSOSButton that they can activate with an amber or red alert if they are in a situation in which they feel uncomfortable. Also one that when pressed, can activate a variety of different actions including recording, photographing and alerting the council’s central control room.
Alternatively, if employees are seen to be at lower risk, a council can utilise a Timed Personal Alert (TPA), which can be done using any mobile phone or fixed line and will come into effect if an employee does not respond to a request within a certain time frame.
For example, when working alone, an employee can text the alert messaging software to advise where they are and how long they are likely to be. If they then don’t renew or cancel after that time frame, an alarm can be triggered, sent to the control room and other specified recipients to notify them and escalate the situation.
It’s crucial that councils, and all other organisations with lone workers, recognise the different levels of risk they face so that they can ensure they have the right type of cover in place. But whilst every employer has a duty of care to protect and ensure the safety of their employees at all times, they also have to justify costs. The probem with a “one product fits all” approach is it either doesn’t provide enough protection for high risk users or it is too expensive for low risk users.
By partnering with a lone worker solution specialist, organisations can guarantee they optimise the right level of cover at the right cost.
If you would like advice for your lone workers, ANT Telecom would be happy to sit down with your organisation to help you match the technology to the risk your staff are exposed to. Please contact us on 01494 833123 to speak to one of our team. In addition, if you would like further information about the lone workers solutions available, including the UrSOSButton, please visit our lone workers solution page.
