LONE WORKER PROTECTION
acute: almost 40% of respondents to a Royal College of Nursing poll said the risk of verbal or physical abuse for lone workers had increased over the past two years. Public sector cuts, and tightening budgets in the private sector, mean that more people are having to perform tasks which used to be done with someone else, on their own.
Lone workers face three main risks:
• The probability/ exposure to violence and aggression.
• The probability/exposure to occupational risks (such as slips, trips, falls, electrocution, etc).
• The probability/exposure to personal well being risks including health issues; reaction under duress scenarios; ability to cope with pressure.
Yet not all lone workers face the same level of risk, explains Mark Cosh, Sales and Marketing Director of people and property protection specialists,
www.tomorrowshs.com
SitexOrbis: “Remote office workers or home workers, for example, work alone but tend to be low risk; roles such as that of a delivery driver, property surveyor and inspector and repairs and maintenance staff are generally considered medium risk; while people in physically demanding jobs such as engineering and construction, roles in which they deal directly with the public and the delivery/ transport of valuable goods are seen as high risk lone worker occupations.”
The risks themselves are different – public sector staff, transport staff and retail workers face threats of abuse or violence from members of the public, while other employees such as shop workers, security staff or warehouse workers might be at risk of robbery; an engineer, construction worker or maintenance staff are at risk of an accident while working alone. The nature of many people’s work, means that they might start early or finish late at night and are at risk on their
journey to and from work. In July this year, for example, a chef was attacked in Surrey while on his way to work at 6am.
Traditionally organisations employing lone workers have managed their safety in two ways: white board or buddy systems. A whiteboard placed in a prominent position in the office records the names, locations, schedule and mobile numbers of all lone workers and the lone
worker checks back into the office and has their whereabouts updated on the board. A buddy system is the equivalent of telling your friend where you’re going to meet a new date and then updating them on their status.
Most prevalent, however, has been to ignore the problem and risks completely – often with disastrous consequences.
Continued on page 42 41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
