When analyzing a work alone safety solution, first determine the potential risks by not implementing one. Organizations always promote their employee safety, yet few set aside a healthy budget to ensure they deploy the best solution available to them.
Businesses allocate and reallocate investments and resources into various areas, with an expectation for each department to achieve more with less, leading to difficult decisions in order to achieve business goals. One key area where there can’t be any compromise is protecting workers from accidents, injuries and illnesses while they’re on the job.
Working in Isolation
When creating a safety plan for lone workers, companies often need to broaden their definition of what a lone worker is. There are some clear situations where an employee qualifies as a lone worker, such as people who work independently in remote locations or who frequently drive alone between worksites.
However, more employees qualify as lone workers than one might imagine. Over 53 million people are designated as lone workers in Canada, the United States and Europe. These extremely vulnerable workers account for about 15 percent of the total workforce in those countries. As a critical component keeping businesses moving towards their goals, the unique safety challenges of lone workers must be addressed.
Here are four main types of lone working scenarios to help your company comprehensively identify your lone workers:
Indoors
A general rule of thumb: a lone worker is one working out of sight or sound of a colleague or other qualified individuals. From warehouses and laboratories to large skyscraper construction sites and underground water treatment plants, many employees are considered to be working alone while indoors, even if there are others working in the building.
Outdoors
Potentially dangerous work sites outdoors can include oilfields and power plants, logging facilities, mine sites and more. A worker can be alone for extended periods of time or for the entire workday, often in challenging environmental conditions. If they were to be struck by equipment or another object, become fatigued, are electrocuted or otherwise become vulnerable or are injured how will they call for help? And who will be on the other end of the line to deploy the response they need? The way businesses address these questions could be the difference between a rescue or a recovery.
Driving
From long haul truck drivers to individuals who drive out to remote sites, employees can find themselves in dangerous conditions while on the road. So much so that one in five fatalities is caused by travelling hazardous roads for workers employed as drivers. The challenges and dangers of this work are compounded after a long day on the job when the driver is fatigued or when weather conditions are poor. If the worker is on the clock, the company is responsible for their safety — and if an accident occurs, the clock starts and doesn’t stop until help arrives.
Remote
When satellite technology is the only means of communication for workers, it qualifies as remote or lone work. These roles include biologists conducting research in mountains or on rivers, oilfield operators and maintenance personnel, land surveyors and more. Many situations these workers find themselves in require equipment that connects them to emergency help while also actively monitoring their environment for hazards so they can focus on the task at hand.
Lone Worker Protection and Workplace Stress
Workplace stress is the top source of stress for American adults, according to the American Institute of Stress, and this can have a significantly negative impact on safety. Meanwhile, another report by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, shows these results:
40 percent of workers say their job is very or extremely stressful 25 percent consider their jobs to be the top stressor in their lives. This is problematic for workers because stress can have a negative impact on a person’s ability to work safely when they are unable to focus on the task at hand.
Feeling part of a team can go a long way towards alleviating stress. Because lone workers are more physically isolated than people who work in groups, they can experience their own unique levels of high stress because of their workplace separation.
Providing a lone worker with a connected safety device gives them a lifeline to others should an accident occur. Reliable connectivity can also provide reassurance that their safety is accounted for, no matter how remote their work may be. Lone workers can focus on their jobs without worrying that their call for help could go unanswered.
Current lone worker safety technology can combine all the following benefits to protect those who are most at risk:
Lone Workers and Violence
“Workplace violence is any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site. It ranges from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide.” (OSHA)
According to the National Safety Council (NSC), violence ranks as the second highest cause of death in the workplace, accounting for 17.7 percent of fatalities. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, about 1.7 million workers are injured on the job from assaults in the United States alone each year. Add in the impact of sexual harassment and the number of victims is staggering.
Lone workers are, by definition, working alone away from other people that would be able to offer assistance if needed — which can make them even more vulnerable to violence.
Acts of physical violence can begin with verbal abuse, such as when a social worker goes to a client’s home or a government worker is in their office building during off hours. Sometimes, the verbal abuse escalates and can cross over into threats of violence — and then a percentage of them turn into acts of physical violence.
By providing lone workers with safety monitoring technology and a means to discretely communicate in real-time with personnel empowered to deploy emergency responses, the employee has the tools they need to help them feel safe when working. It’s also important to train these workers on when to reach out for help; meaning, before the situation turns into one of physical violence.
A new layer of lone worker safety
There are a wide range of unique dangers that threaten lone workers on the job. In 2019 there were a total of 5,333 lone worker deaths, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
These included:
Transportation incidents – 2,122 (39.8%)
Falls, trips and slips – 880 (16.5%)
Exposure to harmful substances or environments – 642 (12.0%)
Fatalities due to fires and explosions – 99 (1.9%)
By establishing a proactive approach to safety, companies can help protect all their workers, whether they work alone or not, from potential harm. A key tactic when pursuing lone worker safety is to focus on connectivity. When coworkers are not physically present to look out for each other, being connected to monitoring personnel that are alerted if an incident occurs in real time is critical.
To find out which award winning lone worker safety solution is best for your organization, contact BLACKRDGE Solutions at (778) 686-5799 or [email protected]
Businesses allocate and reallocate investments and resources into various areas, with an expectation for each department to achieve more with less, leading to difficult decisions in order to achieve business goals. One key area where there can’t be any compromise is protecting workers from accidents, injuries and illnesses while they’re on the job.
Working in Isolation
When creating a safety plan for lone workers, companies often need to broaden their definition of what a lone worker is. There are some clear situations where an employee qualifies as a lone worker, such as people who work independently in remote locations or who frequently drive alone between worksites.
However, more employees qualify as lone workers than one might imagine. Over 53 million people are designated as lone workers in Canada, the United States and Europe. These extremely vulnerable workers account for about 15 percent of the total workforce in those countries. As a critical component keeping businesses moving towards their goals, the unique safety challenges of lone workers must be addressed.
Here are four main types of lone working scenarios to help your company comprehensively identify your lone workers:
Indoors
A general rule of thumb: a lone worker is one working out of sight or sound of a colleague or other qualified individuals. From warehouses and laboratories to large skyscraper construction sites and underground water treatment plants, many employees are considered to be working alone while indoors, even if there are others working in the building.
Outdoors
Potentially dangerous work sites outdoors can include oilfields and power plants, logging facilities, mine sites and more. A worker can be alone for extended periods of time or for the entire workday, often in challenging environmental conditions. If they were to be struck by equipment or another object, become fatigued, are electrocuted or otherwise become vulnerable or are injured how will they call for help? And who will be on the other end of the line to deploy the response they need? The way businesses address these questions could be the difference between a rescue or a recovery.
Driving
From long haul truck drivers to individuals who drive out to remote sites, employees can find themselves in dangerous conditions while on the road. So much so that one in five fatalities is caused by travelling hazardous roads for workers employed as drivers. The challenges and dangers of this work are compounded after a long day on the job when the driver is fatigued or when weather conditions are poor. If the worker is on the clock, the company is responsible for their safety — and if an accident occurs, the clock starts and doesn’t stop until help arrives.
Remote
When satellite technology is the only means of communication for workers, it qualifies as remote or lone work. These roles include biologists conducting research in mountains or on rivers, oilfield operators and maintenance personnel, land surveyors and more. Many situations these workers find themselves in require equipment that connects them to emergency help while also actively monitoring their environment for hazards so they can focus on the task at hand.
Lone Worker Protection and Workplace Stress
Workplace stress is the top source of stress for American adults, according to the American Institute of Stress, and this can have a significantly negative impact on safety. Meanwhile, another report by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, shows these results:
40 percent of workers say their job is very or extremely stressful 25 percent consider their jobs to be the top stressor in their lives. This is problematic for workers because stress can have a negative impact on a person’s ability to work safely when they are unable to focus on the task at hand.
Feeling part of a team can go a long way towards alleviating stress. Because lone workers are more physically isolated than people who work in groups, they can experience their own unique levels of high stress because of their workplace separation.
Providing a lone worker with a connected safety device gives them a lifeline to others should an accident occur. Reliable connectivity can also provide reassurance that their safety is accounted for, no matter how remote their work may be. Lone workers can focus on their jobs without worrying that their call for help could go unanswered.
Current lone worker safety technology can combine all the following benefits to protect those who are most at risk:
Lone Workers and Violence
“Workplace violence is any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site. It ranges from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide.” (OSHA)
According to the National Safety Council (NSC), violence ranks as the second highest cause of death in the workplace, accounting for 17.7 percent of fatalities. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, about 1.7 million workers are injured on the job from assaults in the United States alone each year. Add in the impact of sexual harassment and the number of victims is staggering.
Lone workers are, by definition, working alone away from other people that would be able to offer assistance if needed — which can make them even more vulnerable to violence.
Acts of physical violence can begin with verbal abuse, such as when a social worker goes to a client’s home or a government worker is in their office building during off hours. Sometimes, the verbal abuse escalates and can cross over into threats of violence — and then a percentage of them turn into acts of physical violence.
By providing lone workers with safety monitoring technology and a means to discretely communicate in real-time with personnel empowered to deploy emergency responses, the employee has the tools they need to help them feel safe when working. It’s also important to train these workers on when to reach out for help; meaning, before the situation turns into one of physical violence.
A new layer of lone worker safety
There are a wide range of unique dangers that threaten lone workers on the job. In 2019 there were a total of 5,333 lone worker deaths, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
These included:
Transportation incidents – 2,122 (39.8%)
Falls, trips and slips – 880 (16.5%)
Exposure to harmful substances or environments – 642 (12.0%)
Fatalities due to fires and explosions – 99 (1.9%)
By establishing a proactive approach to safety, companies can help protect all their workers, whether they work alone or not, from potential harm. A key tactic when pursuing lone worker safety is to focus on connectivity. When coworkers are not physically present to look out for each other, being connected to monitoring personnel that are alerted if an incident occurs in real time is critical.
To find out which award winning lone worker safety solution is best for your organization, contact BLACKRDGE Solutions at (778) 686-5799 or [email protected]
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