According to recent estimates, there are around 8 million lone workers in the UK – that’s more than 20% of the workforce. Lone workers are employed in a range of key sectors, facing unique hazards in the workplace. Therefore, it’s important for employers to take special steps to protect their lone working staff. Today’s article will take a detailed look at lone working risks.
What are the Risks of Lone Working?
Lone working is not always dangerous. However, the law requires employers to consider the hazards associated with lone working and ensure that they do not put their workers at risk. Here are some of the biggest lone working risks:
Injury
Many lone workers work in hazardous industries such as construction or manufacturing. Roles that involve manual handling and operating industrial machinery often have a relatively high risk of injury. These risks are even more serious when employees work alone, especially at height or in remote locations.
Take a look at our list of the most dangerous jobs for more examples.
If your lone workers are at risk of injury, it is essential that they can call for help quickly in an emergency. Lone Alarms are an ideal solution.
Read More: What constitutes a hazard in the workplace?
Theft
Employees working in retail can be vulnerable to theft and intruders. A shop employee who opens and closes the premises by themselves could become a target for thieves, for example.
To protect both the employee and the money/goods on the premises, consider installing CCTV and intruder alarms. Personal alarms for lone workers also offer a quick and discreet way to call for assistance. Once the alarm has been activated, our Monitoring Team will be able to telephone the emergency services without delay.
Driving Risks
HGV drivers face a unique set of lone working risks. They often work long, unsociable hours and travel to remote locations.
Did you know that 50% of fatal motorway accidents involve HGVs?
Road traffic accidents are a serious risk facing lone workers such as lorry drivers. To protect them, we recommend offering Lone Alarms to all driving staff. Our Lone Alarms contain a GPS locator as standard, allowing our Monitoring Team to send help to the user’s precise location in an emergency.
Read More: How to support driver safety.
Assault & Violence
Shockingly, one in eight people have experienced violence at work. Lone workers are among the most vulnerable to physical and verbal assault. In fact, a 2020 survey by the BRC revealed that there were more than 400 violent or abusive incidents in the retail sector every day. Working with the public, especially those who may be intoxicated or may have complicated needs, can increase these lone working risks even further.
Lone worker alarms give vulnerable employees the ability to call for help with just the touch of a button. All of our Lone Alarms come with 24-hour monitoring, 365 days a year. No matter when and where your staff are working, they will be protected with a Lone Alarm.
Read More: How many lone workers are attacked every day?
Keep Lone Workers Safe
Protecting lone workers is our mission here at Lone Alarms. Our alarms contain the latest technology including GPS location and automatic fall detection. You can choose to enable or disable these features on each individual device, depending on the needs of your business and your staff.
To find out more about the Lone Alarms service, you can call our friendly team on 0800 03 08 222 or contact us online. You can also read more on our blog.
Order Lone Alarms for your workers today by calling the number above.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated on 10th July 2024 to reflect current information.
