As technology becomes more sophisticated, it offers workers and employers more ways to do their jobs effectively and safely. That’s particularly true for lone worker devices. They protect workers who are vulnerable to a range of special hazards and risks because they work alone.

What exactly can lone worker devices do to help workers and employers? And why would they be needed? In this post, we’ll explore the varied ways in which a small lone worker device worn on the belt or as a pendant can make a huge difference to lone workers and the organizations they work for.

What is lone working?

US law doesn’t give a clear definition of lone work. But it’s essentially when a worker is performing their job duties where they aren’t within sight or hearing of a colleague or manager.

A person doesn’t have to always work alone to be considered a lone worker. For example, if a worker is with a colleague in a store for most of the day, but finishes up their shift alone due to quieter evening hours, that’s still considered lone working.

Lone workers can work in places as varied as:

Farms
Oil rigs
Gas stations

A healthcare worker, such as a caregiver or home visit nurse, is also a lone worker if they visit a client’s home alone. It doesn’t matter if the client is present – the worker is still a lone worker as long as no colleagues are present.

Why do lone workers need protection?

Being alone at work creates two big problems:

There’s no colleague to help in an emergency, and
There’s no-one to even notice that something is wrong in an emergency.

Lone workers can also face a range of other risks, depending on the nature of their work, such as:

Robbery or assault for delivery drivers or store clerks
Work-related injuries for workers handling heavy industrial, construction, or farm equipment.

What lone worker devices do

It’s clear to see that lone workers need protection. And lone worker devices have numerous functions that can help.

A lone worker device is typically a small, body-worn piece of tech that has an SOS button to be pressed in case of emergencies. More advanced lone worker devices can have functions like GPS tracking and automatic fall detection, which raises an alert automatically if the device’s sensors say the device wearer has fallen.

Benefits of lone worker devices

Let’s talk about some specific ways in which lone worker devices can protect and help employees and organizations.

1. Employee safety

The most important task of a lone worker device is to promote employee safety. When there’s no-one around to help, a crisis like a medical emergency, vehicle accident, or work-related accident becomes much more dangerous. And, as we’ve mentioned, lone workers may be more likely to face other risks like crime.

A simple SOS button on a wearable device lets someone call for help right away even if they’re unwell, quickly losing consciousness or out of reach of a phone. In many emergencies, a person might be unable to go through all the steps of unlocking a phone and dialing it. An SOS button is a much faster and easier way to get help within moments.

And if the device wearer isn’t able to do that, automatic fall detection serves as a second layer of protection. If the device’s sensors and algorithm conclude that the wearer has fallen, the alarm will make the call for help all by itself.

2. Fast response to emergencies

It’s key to remember that one employee’s emergency can affect other people’s safety, too. That’s just one reason why managers and employers need to know about a crisis as soon as it happens. Yet with lone working, one major issue is that employers may not even learn about a worker’s sickness or trouble until it’s far too late.

Let’s consider a lone worker at an industrial site. Perhaps this worker has been sent to check on the outputs of a machine after an instrument flagged that it might be malfunctioning.

If this worker faints, they’ll of course need medical help. But that machine will still need to be checked. If it breaks, that could harm other workers and damage more equipment. So, getting fast information about the repair worker’s emergency also lets managers protect other employees and avert a bigger crisis.

Or let’s take a lone farm worker who has been sent to provide water to animals on a hot day. That farm worker will need assistance if they get heatstroke. But the animals will still need their water, too, or else they could suffer or even die. An alert from a lone worker device brings assistance over to the sick worker and to the animals as well.

In the case of a utility worker who’s been sent to work on part of an electrical system, that electrical system’s failure could lead to power outages that affect and endanger many members of the public, too. A lone worker device gets that worker help while ensuring the job still gets done in time.

In short – fast, up-to-date information about emergencies helps keep everyone safe and helps to prevent one emergency from escalating into a larger crisis. And that’s exactly what a lone worker device provides.

3. Morale and staff retention

Lone workers can experience anxiety about their work. This is common, for example, in customer-facing jobs like small businesses where workers can feel vulnerable to robbery and assault.

A lone worker device offers some peace of mind to workers because they’ll know that they can call for help within a few moments. They’ll have a device that’s body-worn, so it’s within reach even when a panic button behind a counter isn’t. And what’s more, they’ll be able to speak through the device to explain the emergency situation to a helper. That’s comforting and reassuring, and it can help them to feel less alone.

With SureSafe’s Lone Worker solution, you can choose who the device calls in an emergency. One option is a 24/7 expert response center, which can be great if you don’t have the capacity within your organization to manage an emergency response.

But if you prefer to handle a crisis internally, you can also choose the self-managed option, where the lone worker device calls an internal hotline or even the phone numbers of up to three contacts. It all depends on what suits your organization best.

4. Legal compliance

There is limited legislation regarding lone working in the U.S. However, employers must always comply with OSHA’s General Duty Clause (29 U.S. Code § 654), as well as any more specific legislation covering their specific industry or situation. Overall, this means they have to perform their duty to keep employees safe while working.

Lone worker devices can be a way for employers to protect employees from hazards as they comply with their legal obligations. What’s more, these devices can also help to show insurers that employers are doing their best to reduce risks. That can potentially bring insurance costs down.

5. Information about employee movements and location

If a call for help goes out, there’s another piece of information that’s needed – where the worker needing assistance is.

Without GPS tracking, employers and colleagues can lose precious time trying to track down an employee who has raised an alert using their lone worker device. In contrast, GPS tracking can help employers find workers fast, so they can get assistance as soon as possible.

But GPS tracking is useful in many ways beyond crisis situations, too. It can give employers valuable information about employees’ movements and locations during the workday. Employers can use this information to improve procedures, do performance evaluations or simply monitor their business operations.

What’s more, if managers or other employees are worried about a lone worker’s safety, they can use the tracking data to find the lone worker and see their recent activity. This can help keep workers safe and also allow employers to confirm when there’s a false alarm.

How SureSafe makes it easy to implement lone worker devices

SureSafe’s lone worker devices have all the up-to-date features we’ve mentioned above, including:

A one-touch SOS button
Wearable design (pendant or belt-worn)
Automatic fall detection
Ability to speak to helpers through the device
GPS tracking
Location history
Choice of using an expert response center or self-managed help process.

Our lone worker devices are easy to use, affordable and reliable. That’s no surprise, given our reputation as a trusted provider of safety solutions to tens of thousands of clients in the US and the UK.

So, if you’re looking for a way to keep your lone workers safe, talk to us at SureSafe. We’d be happy to chat more with you and answer any questions you might have about the benefits of lone worker devices for your business or organization.

You can get in touch with us in lots of ways – like our contact form, calling us at 888 540 7193, or emailing [email protected]. You can also try our live chat or request a call back.