LONE WORKER PROTECTION
CONNECTING THE DOTS
Even on very busy sites, there may be times when workers find themselves alone. Arco talks us through its new range of tech that can offer these people security at all times.
A busy construction site employing hundreds of tradesmen is not a scenario you would typically associate with lone working. However, while fellow workers may be nearby, there will inevitably be occasions when individuals are operating alone. On large sites, employees may find themselves working on a task in a remote area, away from where the majority of works are taking place, or find themselves working alone at height on scaffolding platforms.
In the rail sector, track workers can easily find themselves in a lone working situation despite working as part of a team. This could be as simple as a team member being seconded further up the track to test a point and, due to a bend in the track, being out of sight and earshot of other workers. If colleagues cannot see or hear them and they become compromised or injured, it is imperative they are protected by the company’s lone worker policy and provided with the appropriate technologies to raise the alarm.
With the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter Act, organisations that fail to protect their employees from risk could be prosecuted however brief their work in isolated circumstances may be. In the past, prosecutions of companies for corporate manslaughter have relied on identifying individual managers or directors. However, this is no longer the case and now the organisation itself can be held criminally liable for the death of workers.
One tragic example of this is Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings (CGH), which was found guilty of corporate manslaughter and fined £385,000 following the death of a
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junior geotechnical engineer who was taking soil samples at a site when a test pit collapsed on him. Accused of failing to follow its own safety guidelines, the firm had an unsupported trial pit over 1.2m deep and allowed an employee to enter it while alone on site. The trial pit collapsed, suffocating him.
Construction workers operating alone outside of typical site hours are also at risk from site break-ins and potential assault. In 2014, construction sites around the country were hit by more than 6,000 break-ins according to Mobile Mini. While construction works are typically contained within permitted hours as set out by individual local authorities, there will be some activities which can fall outside of normal working hours when there is a good reason for this to happen. This might be for health and safety reasons or because the particular operation cannot be completed within the time normally allowed.
Employees working alone should be at no greater risk than other employees at all times. It is an employer’s duty to assess risks to their employees and take steps to avoid or control those risks. Risk assessments and action plans aim to make good health and safety management more proactive than the traditional reactive approach. They need to reflect how hazards can change based upon various factors, such as perception, experience, location, time of day, the nature of the work being carried out and whether or not the employee is regarded as a lone worker. So it’s crucial that risk assessments are communicated, understood and reviewed by all parties regularly.
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