The Importance of Lone Worker Monitoring: Ensuring Safety and Compliance in the Modern Workplace
Why you need Lone Worker Monitoring
In order to ensure the safety of your employees you need a modern lone worker system that doesn’t rely on manual check-ins or the buddy system, which are unreliable methods. Instead, you need to choose a lone worker monitoring solution with multiple connectivity options that is specifically designed to address the safety challenges lone workers face.
You need to comply with the local legislation pertaining to lone workers in your area, making sure you meet your duty of care responsibilities as an employer. You will need to find out if part of those legal responsibilities include providing a lone worker monitoring system, like in Illinois where they introduced the Hotel and Casino Employee Safety Act (S.B. 75) or Legislation Bill S.2986 in New Jersey.
An all-in-one worker check-in, emergency alerting and monitoring solution:
Lone worker monitoring solutions need to come as part of a complete management platform. They must have features that ensure the safety of lone employees by enabling workers to check in at specified times.
There should be an automated count down that runs in background mode until the worker’s check in is due. If a worker does not respond to the check in prompt then an emergency alert should be sent to their supervisor and an automatic escalation begun.
The supervisor can then use the cloud-based dashboard and access detailed information about the worker’s movements and their GPS location in real time. Lone worker monitoring solutions should also work as a panic button, allowing workers to request immediate assistance at the touch of a button.
Benefits of Lone Worker Monitoring
Lone worker monitoring provides several benefits for businesses, including:
5 Ways to Monitor Lone Worker Safety
1. Time Based Monitoring
The automation of the system means it is not reliant on a human remembering to check their employees are safe. This removes the responsibility from the supervisor or assigned ‘buddy’ and creates a safer, reliable means of checking lone working staff.
2. Dashboard Monitoring
The dashboard gives a clear, detailed map of the area each worker is in. This allows supervisors to have precise co-ordinates to send help to if a worker misses a check in or requests immediate help.
3. Location Monitoring
This function is crucial to allow a worker to be found in the quickest time possible if they are in trouble or there is a medical emergency.
4. Background Monitoring
Workers are able to have their phones on them, with the lone worker app minimised, and not worry about the app closing and therefore no longer protecting them.
5. Man Down Monitoring
Where a normal check in could be set for a period of hours, Man down is set for much shorter periods, (usually 5-10 minutes). This will detect a workers movement during that time and is critical to determining whether a worker has lost consciousness.
How Ok Alone can help with your safety monitoring
Ok Alone’s lone worker monitoring provides a complete remote worker management platform that allows companies to monitor their lone workers in real time from any location. Workers access this technology using smartphones or any smart device with internet access. The app allows workers to check in with supervisors throughout their shifts either confirming they are fine or to ask for help.
This can be done through the Ok Alone app directly or WhatsApp. The system also includes the ability for workers to send alerts directly through text messaging or reach out via phone call if they don’t have wi-fi. Companies are provided with a personal online dashboard that shows their workers current GPS locations, in case of emergencies, and has information to create reports or show compliance with local legislation.
Top 3 questions about lone worker monitoring
Lone Worker Monitoring is using modern technology (not clunky devices or heavy equipment) to keep your workers safe! It gives workers the ability to check in and say they are fine or to request assistance in an emergency. It also gives supervisors an exact location for a worker if they need help.
Workers are kept safe through using their GPS location in real time. This means workers are able to request help from supervisors and know that they will be able to find them. The active monitoring provided by a lone worker smartphone app can give peace of mind and a sense of security to those employees in remote locations.
Workers are only monitored while they are logged in during shifts they are working. Once they log out at the end of a shift the GPS is disabled and movement can no longer be seen.
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