LONE WORKER PROTECTION


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How can concerns with lone worker protection be eliminated via web- based video surveillance systems and mobile? Tomorrow’s Health & Safety spoke to surveillance expert, Jabbakam, who answers this question and more.


There’s a common view that deploying CCTV systems as a means of providing Lone Worker Protection (LWP) is basically flawed. Just as burglars could potentially cut the wires for a household alarm system, it is often argued that an attacker can easily disable a CCTV protection system by spraying paint onto the camera and then stealing the system’s videotape or hard disk. These obstacles can be readily overcome, however, by deploying wireless systems or by installing a web-based video surveillance system. In the case of wireless systems the obvious approach would be to install a cellular (mobile phone) based system. The catch is that lone workers are by definition often


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based in remote locations which might not have a cellular signal. The same problem lies with anyone in a basement or deep inside a building. By contrast, IP- based systems have been installed literally in the middle of nowhere and are still able to function.


The obligation to provide some form of lone worker protection has become increasingly important after the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 in the UK. Failure to carry out the necessary risk assessment which then results in an injury could lead to action against an employer under the Health and Safety Offences Act 2009. This permits the sanction of imprisonment


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under the Health and Safety Act 1974 and the Health and Safety at work NI Order 1978.


As a deterrent to potential attackers, CCTV technology has progressed in leaps and


bounds and transformed itself into a web-based video surveillance system. In layman’s terms, a traditional CCTV camera – with all-weather protection and infra-red for night vision – is connected to


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