Providing Additional Protection to Lone Workers

What is a Lone Worker?

By definition, “lone workers are those who work by themselves without close or direct supervision”. Whilst working alone is perfectly legal, employers must take their duty of care very seriously. With this in mind, A & E Elkins have considered the risks to their workers’ safety and the challenges they face working in the locations they are based.

Why Protect?

Many of their projects involve refurbishment and maintenance of housing association properties. Due to this, lone working is unavoidable and can occur daily. Their staff can be working on different sites in the community visiting a range of residents. Interacting with the community is an important part of A&E Elkins day-to-day operations; however, on occasion front line staff can find their safety under threat from possible physical violence, verbal abuse or intimidation, animal attack or attack against property. These risks can be mitigated by implementing a comprehensive, lone worker solution for site located teams.

Their Solution

A&E Elkins employees wear SoloProtect ID that allows them to present identification as part of their job role. The ID badge can be operated discreetly without having to break eye-contact as the device links to a 24/7 Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) at the push of a button. Since the implementation of the system they have had five accidental activations, but every one of those has been intercepted by the SoloProtect call centre and dealt with. Therefore, A & E Elkins are confident that if any of their employees were in a vulnerable situation, including violent encounters or a man down situation, SoloProtect would be there to offer that added protection.