EMERGENCY EVACUATIONS
RESILIENCE IN ISOLATION
Robin Blandford, Founder of D4H & SVP, Product at EcoOnline, explains why consideration of lone workers is vital to building a comprehensive incident response strategy, and how to succeed in a volatile world.
For future-ready organisations, operational resilience is common sense. However, with 84% of business leaders concerned they are unprepared for disruptions, the question must be posed; are UK businesses actually prepared for a crisis? Would their employees agree?
In 2025, there’s no denying that the commercial landscape is volatile. As technology evolves, so too do digital threats; 93% of UK organisations have faced high- impact cyber incidents. Combine this with a heightened natural risk, as studies find that 52% of organisations have had their ability to drive normal operations impacted by extreme weather.
The risk of crisis may be ever-present, but one group is especially vulnerable to its impact.
THE VULNERABILITY OF LONE WORKERS
Lone workers make-up around one fifth of the UK’s working population, defined by the Health and Safety Executive as ‘those who work by themselves without close or direct supervision’. Their jobs can lead them to remote locations and require tasks to be completed outside of the regular working day, making it more difficult to track threats to safety.
https://www.ecoonline.com/resources/lone-worker-landscape-report/?utm_cam- paign=52210883-UKI%20-%20PR%20Activity%20-%202024%20UKI&utm_ source=Tomorrows%20Health%20and%20Safety&utm_medium=PR&utm_con- tent=Byline
Our Lone Worker Landscape Report highlighted a recognition gap between lone worker and executive approaches to risk. While 46% of executives believe that lone workers are sufficiently included in risk assessments, only 30% of lone workers agree. The threat arising from this mismatch will never be more evident than in scenarios of crisis. Without the safety net provided by their colleagues, it’s essential that they are well-versed in how best to handle risks.
PREPARING LONE WORKERS FOR ANY CRISIS
To create a workforce that is prepared in the face of crisis, flexibility and visibility must be prioritised. With live data insights, those in charge of the unfolding situation can outline decisive next steps. Technological integration has changed the game for crisis response; workers can trust the data and act accordingly, mitigating concerns about human error.
For lone workers, it can be trickier to gain a full picture of the risks, especially in unprecedented scenarios where they become isolated, working without easy team communication. Whether they find themselves off- site in an area with no phone signal or hurt and unable to raise the alarm, technology is vital to protect those working independently. To address these common
20
WWW.TOMORROWSHS.COM
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
