According to the European Agency for Health and Safety at Work: Employers are required to evaluate risks to safety and health and take action to improve the level of protection given to workers. This process is called a risk assessment, and involves identifying hazards and assessing the associated risk.
Such assessments or security risk analyses are essential for every organisation. Only by conducting these exercises can those who hold the purse strings be absolutely sure that the controls in place and the expenditure aligned with them are fully commensurate with the risks to which any given organisation is exposed.
Drilling down to the micro level, it’s also true to say that risk assessments around employees are equally vital. No more so than when it comes to members of staff who work alone. The Corporate Manslaughter Act and companies’ Duty of Care to staff as part of today’s CSR policies absolutely set that assertion in stone.>
What factors, though, demand most consideration for a genuinely collaborate risk assessment procedure to be executed between manager and employee?
It’s critical to ask certain fundamental questions. For example, can the work defined be carried out safely by a lone individual? What arrangements need to be put in place to make certain a lone worker isn’t exposed to a greater risk than those who operate in tandem?
In essence, the risk assessment for any lone worker has to pinpoint all potential hazards, identify those who may be affected by the perceived risks, and outline the right control procedures.
Looking specifically at hazards (or threats), does the workplace present a special risk to the lone worker, perhaps because of the environment, its location, or any degree of unfamiliarity with their surroundings?
From a Health and Safety perspective, is the working environment appropriate in terms of, say, lighting and heating? Are welfare facilities (toilets, drinking water, etc.) on site both adequate and accessible? And what about immediate access to first aid facilities should they be needed?
From a pure security point of view, does the lone worker have access to suitable communication devices for summoning assistance? Needless to say this area is always important, and particularly so if there’s any perceived or real risk of violence associated with the work activity or location.
Is there an emergency plan in place, and is it appropriate? Has the employee received specific training in how to respond to emergency situations that may arise in the course of their duties when working alone? Variables such as fire safety or the need for electrical shutdowns ought to be considered.
For their part, control measures are focused on reducing risk and the consideration of alternative work methods/patterns, additional training (around, say, emergency procedures and personal safety) and adequate supervision.
Enhanced on-site security (courtesy of CCTV and personal alarm systems) will likely be part of the mix, so too increased lighting at entrances and exits as well as for external zones like car parks.
As a “must,” all lone workers have to be privy to the necessary information that assists them in dealing with everyday scenarios but they should also understand when, where, and how to seek guidance or assistance from others should they be confronted by threatening or otherwise abnormal situations.
Generally speaking, the level and extent of training required for lone working employees depends largely on the nature of the work to be conducted in addition to the knowledge and experience of the individuals in question. It stands to reason that younger, less “worldly-wise” individuals and those new to the company have to be inducted by way of additional training.
Supervision must also be paramount. The level and degree of this mentoring is determined by the nature of the risks involved in tandem with the aforementioned abilities and experience of each lone worker.
Manual (panic alarms) or automatic (motion sensors) warning devices may come into the mix, along with periodic telephone contact/site visits from managers at set intervals. Regular contact (by way of dedicated radios or telephones) or perhaps “end of shift” or “end of task” contact could be initiated.
At the end of the risk assessment, every lone worker must be made fully aware of the outcome and of all necessary control measures to be orchestrated.
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Even in an environment where there are normally many employees there need to be some rules in place for lone employees. Having warehouse space for example you have to set policies regarding what equipment can be operated without another employee in the area for safety reasons. Even the most simple machines can turn into a safety issue and a worker alone in a warehouse trapped by a piece of machinery for a couple hours is never a good thing. When we hear about lone workers we often think of things like store clerks or sales/delivery roles but I think this… Read more »
Let’s not also forget that CCTV is being used more and more for “safety” as opposed to the old fashioned “Crime Prevention and Detection”. Shopping Malls are one example to supposedly keep security staff “safe” on a night shift when doing their rounds. Many security guards do their rounds specifically to remain under the gaze of the cameras helping them to feel safer and assuming that someone in the control room is keeping an eye on them – a good Big Brother. Notwithstanding questions on the legal compliance of the CCTV with regard to data protection legislation (and there are… Read more »
Another option is that there are specific Lone Worker systems out there to protect singleton employees, the good ones can be operated by an App on your smartphone linked to a professional monitoring centre. Costs are minimised as no hardware is involved as most people have smartphones these days! Pressing a large red button on your smartphone when in distress whether health related or when in a threatening situation so the monitoring centre can listen in and/or set a response plan in motion has to be a good move. They usually have a “timer” as well so the same process… Read more »
@william gillett, I like the idea of a big red button. Even if it wasn’t an app but a physical button that could call for help in emergency situations or that would make a call if a timer wasn’t reset say every couple hours. I’m thinking positions like say a fire tower where workers aren’t just alone, they are a considerable distance from anyone else. An accident or heart attack there for instance could go quite a long time before anyone noticed.
Hardware based solutions tend to be integrated into pendants or ID card holders, software-based via Apps, some companies do both versions depending on customer requirements. Costs are usually ongoing monthly charges as the majority of cost is the monitoring/response service which is obviously the critical area.
Very good article Brian and couldn’t agree more. At MITIE we spend a lot of time educating customers and MITIE managers on the importance of carrying out effective risk assessments for their workers to not only determine if they are indeed a lone worker but also what kind. Often procurement say – we have 100 lone workers so I need 100 of “that system”, but at MITIE we prefer to think of them as 100 individual users who may need a specific system to meet their individual needs. I believe this is why organisations who suffer from incredibly low user… Read more »
As you say an app is a comparatively cheap way to distribute such a system. With the gyros, GPS tracking etc. the systems to make then work are all there anyway. The timer reset is a very interesting idea as well. To be properly effective the phone would also need to be equipped with a SIM card to enable it to use multiple networks in case of signal issues.
Training and retraining as well is key. People really need the risks drilled into them to understand the importance of the precautions in place. But one must be careful to not go too far and scare the living day lights out of a staff member!
I joked about a month ago about putting RFID tags into bracelets for some of our employees so we could track their path through our facilities. Maybe something like that would work for lone workers. An RFID tag that could trigger action if it ventures into a dangerous shop area, or if it leaves a specific area. I can’t say I love the idea of another monitoring contract, do you know if traditional security monitoring companies are doing this?
There are many companies in this area but most appear to be quite small but specialist. I will probably get struck off IfsecGlobal for this blatant self-advertising but my own company, Chubb, have a Lone Working System in addition to their traditional integrated IDS/EAC/CCTV platforms/monitoring services. http://www.chubbcommunitycare.co.uk/products/C34/, if you need any more details or someone to call/call you, please let me know. Just to try to balance this, I seem to recall reading an article that suggested Mitie might also be in this area but it isn’t my actual specialism so only usually research this when I see new developments… Read more »
As mentioned there are a number of small companies out there. Have a look at Argyll Lone Workers. They have a terific setup and cover the whole of the UK.
Tom Morton is the managing director and is really helpful and knowledgeable.
And no, it’s not an advert – I have dealt with him a few times and really impressed with the setup.
Hi, no need for RFID systems – too expensive when you consider prices of equipment and installation; and doesn’t really meet the needs of ‘lone workers’ since you won’t be near the ‘tag’ when you need it!! A new system is being launched (by us) very soon. This is a wireless system and has indoor positioning; man-down and full audio connectivity between the end user and the monitor. Contact me if you need further info?
Delighted to read your article Brian, it’s the first time I’ve seen the risk assessment mentioned/discussed in the context of lone worker ‘systems’. As Olac rightly observes, there is way too much focus on the procurement of devices as though they are the ‘holy grail’ of lone worker safety. In reality, these systems are no more than glorified panic buttons and, as also identified below, with poor implementation and woefully inadequate staff training, most organisations are luckty if they achieve 35% end user adoption. What a waste of a good budget and management time! Argyll has been promoting lone… Read more »
You should see if one of the bloggers could do a write up on this. I could see it being useful in many circumstances. I’m not just looking for lone worker solutions and this would be part of an equipment/parts tracking solution as well so the expense isn’t a burden we would just add employees as assets if were were going to do something like this.
Bingo! The system has been designed to cater for any asset and the cloud based monitoring enables the risk parameters to properly managed. It will also identify how long a particular asset has been in a specific location and issue alerts if that is a potential risk.
This might start sounding like a sales call but I’m curious, does this integrate with other inventory control systems? I’ve got warehouses full of gear that that we track and looking at the lone worker site a lot of the features could be adapted for some of the gear we track on a daily basis.
@Tom Morton it will be intereresting to hear this presentation, if I can (I have a manic schedule) I’ll take a look. While 70% is twice the other ‘best’ figure you mentioned, it’s still shocking that 30% aren’t using the systems. Why not?
@Safe agree. This is not the forum for am extended discussion. The answer is ‘yes’ now how do we chat offline? My mail is [email protected]
@Robert Brown, apologies for the delayed response. I wanted to double check the figures with Capita. It appears that my figure is out of date. They have improved adoption further owing to the continuous feedback provided by our management information and their adioption ratio is now 94% and still climbing.
The speaker is Jon Myhill and I think he is speaking at lunch time. I’m sure that Jon will be delighted to share their experiences with you.
regards Tom
For those of you who work or manage people on the doors or who provide security guards this video may be of interest to you – http://youtu.be/9Ibp-AgMMiI
It’s really great to see how the security industry and no doubt some of the larger company security departments are taking the threat to lone workers seriously to the point we have a whole Lone Worker area on this very community website. Now that the BSIA have announced a Lone Worker section and chairman let’s hope we see a greater awareness in general. In terms of individuals themselves understanding the risks as well as their employers along with both parties being more aware of what policies and practices that can be put in place and the technologies that can support them. This is something that the NHS… Read more »
What ` Risk ` is being assessed here ; and , what mitigative measures are being proposed ?
The answer depends upon whether one seeks a Service ; or Demonstrable Protection !
The market is replete with ` services ` that will ` cover the corporate backside ` ; but , for ` Demonstrable Protection ` the only solution is Close Protection ( CP ) !
Human Capital is unique & irriplacable ; ergo , although CP is expensive , Human Capital is Priceless !
Malcolm Cheshire
Executive Principal
RiskConcision
Can you define Close Protection for me? If the plan is to keep a lone worker from running a forklift into a rack full of gear when he could have waited a half hour for someone else to act as a spotter for example or as mentioned in another post a worker like forest rangers who spend long hours in a fire tower with no outside contact.
Don`t try to shine me on … you don`t have the time or the skills !
My interest lies in Human Extra Mural Protection ; and , only CP can achieve this : because , only CP provides the requisite Rigour & Immediacy !
Current ` Device Based ` Lone Worker Systems provide monitoring / tracking ; but , NOT Protection … ergo , any claims to the contrary are highly questionable !
It is , and remains , my contention that LONE WORKER PROTECTION is a Paradox !
It was interesting to see the work from Roke recently on their Agitate product.
If these devices can have unique identifiers added then it could lead to some very interesting possibilities with integrated systems empowered by such devices not just offering lone worker solutions but also asset tracking amongst others.
Regarding ‘Lone Worker Protection’ it is not just hardware or software that matters but the very procedure that you implement and what is done in the event of an ‘activation’ or any other alert condition.
It is one thing to know that someone is undeer attack, what do you do about it?
Having a solution for all scenarios is difficult, however many situations can be addressed and there should be a clear and thorough understanding of expectations by ALL parties involved.
interesting point, but I think it more related to basic safety vs true reality of workplace…
I trust you are right safety and security including Risk Assessment everyone should get involved… as each party could provide they ideas help to create better picture/understanding…
This is a big part of the issue, what do you do/how do you react when you know that a worker is in trouble? False positives, legal requirements, insurance requirements, asset protection and I’m sure a whole slew of other factors come in to play. Yes the human element is the most important but sending a second person into a bad situation might not be the answer.