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HEALTH & SAFETY
PROTECTING LONE WORKERS:
IS YOUR MANUFACTURING PROCESS UP TO SCRATCH?
manufacturing can be supported by a lone worker – as the car travels over a conveyor belt during production it is spray painted by machines and monitored by a person. What happens if - or when - an employee accidentally becomes stuck in a piece of machinery that is part of the production process, and is subsequently dragged along the line? This person could potentially be crushed and lose their life unless appropriate health and safety, and communication processes, are put in place for their protection. Or, what about during paper and packaging production – when a solo cleaning operator has to clean out a waste paper clippings tunnel, and accidentally accesses a piece of equipment that traps them in a severely compromising health and safety position? Aside from that, there are other areas that can be hazardous to lone workers – for example, within energy production and water supply facilities, service engineers often have to access dark or very steep tunnels, or perform tasks on top of wind turbines. The list and opportunity for accidents across manufacturing and production is almost limitless.
A ‘‘ ’’ 38 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023 | INDUSTRIAL COMPLIANCE
In many of these situations employees - although part of wider teams - function as
cross many manufacturing and production sites there is often a need for employees to work alone. For instance, in the automotive sector, the spray painting of cars during some
Chris Potts, marketing director, ANT Telecom tells us about the important role that effective communication plays in protecting lone workers, and explains how to put in place a robust supporting process.
lone workers, and their health and lives are often at risk. This raises a key question about how best to protect solo workers?
EMPLOYERS HAVE A DUTY TO PROTECT STAFF AND KEEP THEM SAFE To guide organisations, the UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has compiled a useful booklet about the issue. Titled “Protecting lone workers, INDG73” it explains how to keep lone workers healthy and safe, saying the onus is on employers to protect staff and keep them safe, by providing training, supervision, monitoring and support for lone workers. This includes views on how managers should keep in touch with lone workers, focusing on the role of communication – which is especially key if/when an accident and emergency might occur.
In critical lone worker situations, automated processes and communication technology plays a vital role in enabling effective communication. It can help protect staff and ensure they can get the support they require. For a lot of incidents, lone workers can simply walk to the nearest phone in their workplace to contact their first
aid team if the problem is not too severe. But, if landline phones are not present, like in many manufacturing or outdoor plants, smartphones or radio handsets can be a simple and effective lifesaver. The problem, though, is that in several cases, some incidents can happen so quickly that people do not have the time to call for help. In those particular moments, where there is zero time to contact someone for aid – such as when an employee becomes attached or trapped to a piece of equipment and could lose a limb or worse, their life – it becomes vital to ensure that employees’ devices are fitted with man-down/tilt sensors that are instantly activated when an accident occurs. The alerts they capture and send need to be integrated into manufacturing and production equipment; so that when the accident takes place, an alert is automatically triggered and sent to machinery, forcing the line and equipment to stop production. This is also where dual purpose communication handsets can come into their own and support. These include smartphones with lone worker apps that work perfectly where mobile reception or WiFi is good and reliable. However, if mobile reception can’t be relied on, companies should consider Digital Radio or IP DECT handsets. On the one hand these comms devices can be used daily for normal operations – and as a critical safety device when a major incident occurs. Such as, when a lone worker is hit by a falling object, falls from height or tumbles down stairs in a remote location and is rendered unconscious.
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