Lone workers have long been the most vulnerable employees in the workforce. But do they feel their safety is being taken seriously?
Recent survey data suggests lone worker safety concerns are being ignored. How to fix it? Read on to find out.
The lone-worker safety gap
Well, in the recent Lone Worker Safety report, lone workers reveal major safety concerns.
Specifically, these workers don’t feel safe in their jobs. In fact, over 40% of lone workers revealed feeling unsafe at some point in their work environment.
And feeling unsafe is taking a toll on these employees. Safety concerns impacted the productivity of one in five workers, a potentially serious issue for employers relying on lone staff to carry out critical work.
Why lone workers feel unsafe
What are the major lone-worker safety concerns? It turns out it’s employer nonresponse.
More than two thirds (68%) of lone workers revealed that their employers did nothing when they raised personal safety issues.
The lack of action by employers is also undermining safety reporting efforts, contributing to safety underreporting. Many lone workers admitted that they’ve stopped flagging incidents.
Another reason why lone workers feel unsafe: customer threats. Employees who had to work off-hours (either early or late) often cited fear of potentially violent customers as a top reason why they felt unsafe.
Lone-worker safety concerns impacting wellbeing
Physical safety concerns also have a major effect on psychological safety.
Almost half of workers reported that their workplace experiences had directly affected their mental health.
Technology to address lone-worker safety concerns
What to do? Well, one of the most effective tools for improving lone-worker safety is technology. Specifically, lone workers who used safety management solutions reported feeling safer at work.
It’s not hard to understand why. Safety management software functionality like panic buttons can meaningfully enhance lone-worker safety.
That’s because a digital panic button helps lone workers rapidly communicate any type of emergency with the push of a button, simultaneously connecting to on-site personnel, first responders, and those involved to keep everyone informed and engaged throughout a situation.
Other capabilities include:
- Respond faster. The solution enables lone workers to indicate an emergency in an average of 1.5 seconds. It also includes a customized content directory that gives lone workers quick access to important information like procedures, facility maps, and protocols.
- Staff assist. The solution enables authorized employees to communicate with on-site groups or individuals without having to call an emergency number.
- Send status checks. During an unfolding emergency, the solution helps administrators or first responders understand the status of the individuals involved. Status check responses can help coordinate and prioritize response efforts with actionable data like location, injuries, and requests for assistance.
- Improve compliance. The solution enables employers to conduct drills to prepare for emergencies and manage compliance with reporting by facility, date range, and drill type. And it also provides visibility to activation history for reporting and auditing.
Measures to ensure lone-worker safety
Beyond technology, there are also safety measures employers can implement to protect their lone workers, starting by integrating their lone-worker risk mitigation strategy into the larger work health and safety risk mitigation strategy.
From there, employers should assess lone-worker risk holistically before implementing targeted risk mitigation measures.
What are some relevant measures? We tackle the most significant in our Guide to Mitigating the Work Health and Safety Risk to Lone Workers.
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