Editing A Comprehensive Guide to Lone Worker Safety for Construction Workers

Workers who work alone—whether they are out in the field on powerlines or pipelines, cleaning a for-sale home, working at a 24-hour convenience store, or even driving alone to work—face certain risks that can be amplified by isolation. Companies have a legal responsibility to protect these employees by providing them with lone worker safety programs.<br /><br />Identifying the Risks<br /><br />Workers who work alone are exposed to a broad range of hazards. They can include truck drivers and couriers who spend the majority of their shift out of sight and earshot of coworkers, petrochemical employees who routinely enter confined spaces or transmission towers, and construction workers who are outside of the earshot and view of others on the job site.<br /><br />These risks can be made even worse when a worker is working alone, as there is no one around to quickly call for help or alert emergency services. For this reason, lone worker safety must be an integral part of any company's risk assessment process. Workers can be pushed into working alone in a wide variety of situations, from showing homes for sale on their own to cleaning up after a disaster.<br /><br />Developing a Lone Worker Safety Policy<br /><br />Working alone increases the risk of accidents and injuries because employees don’t have coworkers to assist them. Workers may also not be able to call for help or summon assistance when something goes wrong, such as when an object falls on them while they’re working outside or someone attacks them.<br /><br />Developing a lone worker safety policy is essential for employers to protect their employees and meet health and safety regulations. It involves identifying the specific risks and creating procedures to mitigate them. It’s also important to involve lone workers in the process so they can provide feedback and ideas.<br /><br />Once the policies and procedures have been established, set up monitoring protocols that include a system for reporting incidents. This will help ensure that any issues are reported quickly and that your employees’ safety is not compromised.<br /><br />Developing Procedures to Mitigate the Risks<br /><br />Lone workers face a range of specific risks and hazards that aren’t necessarily addressed by their employer’s general health and safety policy. [https://youtu.be/QyOcWG3GvzE?si=c5DpK36CXVy6r-Ia How a lone worker device works] This is especially true of workers who operate alone and must make decisions without the benefit of colleagues nearby.<br /><br />These employees can include truck drivers who travel long distances and delivery personnel working out of sight and earshot of other staff members. Others may work in high-crime areas, are exposed to dangerous chemicals, or carry out tasks such as stocking shelves at a 24-hour store.<br /><br />It’s important for employers to incorporate a risk assessment process for lone workers into their general risk assessments. This allows them to identify unique risks posed by the lone worker and plan accordingly. They should also provide their associates with a way to discreetly report hazards and safety issues that they are aware of.<br /><br />Developing a Lone Worker Safety Checklist<br /><br />Lone worker safety checklists can be an effective tool to help prevent health and safety hazards for employees who work alone. [https://youtu.be/8WC_9ARhYRs?si=EpL-AT_fpoJzfbjv lone working tracker] However, they are only effective if they are properly implemented and followed.<br /><br /> [https://youtu.be/kOdz1wp9t2c?si=2ix-cMLYjxBz0aAm lone worker tracking devices] Once the risks have been identified, it is important to develop a policy to address them. This will include establishing processes and procedures for monitoring lone workers, as well as outlining the roles and responsibilities of both the supervisor and the lone worker.<br /><br />A key element of this process is identifying how often the lone worker will check in with their contact person and how long they will be alone for. You will also need to establish a system for reporting any incidents that occur while the worker is alone. This will allow you to identify any trends in lone worker safety and take corrective action where necessary.<br /><br />Developing Lone Worker Training<br /><br />Having the right policies in place is not enough if your team is not aware of them. It is vital to regularly communicate with your lone and remote workers about safety strategies, including new protocols and existing ones. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as virtual or face-to-face workshops, social media platforms, lunch and learns and creative online courses.<br /><br />This course identifies lone working situations, highlights the hazards and risks associated with it and outlines control measures that can be implemented to minimise these risks. It also covers responsibilities and legislation relevant to lone work for both employers and employees. In addition, this course provides a quality assured certificate that can be used as evidence of training for compliance and audit purposes.