Top 5 reasons to avoid lone worker safety

We have been implementing lone worker safety systems for over a decade.

This experience means we have a very good understanding of how businesses view lone worker safety – and the reasons why they may ultimately rule against an automated system.

After publishing our ‘Top 5 reasons for investing in a lone worker safety system’ blog post last month, we though it would be helpful to tackle some of the common reasons customers choose against making that investment.

Here are the top five we encounter.

1. Realistically, the chances of a lone worker incident are low

Thankfully yes, this is true. But as we always say – why take the risk?

Figures published earlier this year by law firm Pinsent Masons showed that the number of corporate manslaughter cases increased by 40% in 2012. The firm also warned that momentum was building around enforcement of the 2007 Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, with a number of new cases in the pipeline.

Using an automated lone worker safety system means that no lone worker or mobile worker can be unaccounted for, and they can call for help in the event of an emergency. This helps you to demonstrate robust Duty of Care towards your staff.

2. It’s an expensive ‘would like to have’ that we just can’t afford at the moment

This is pretty much a version on the theme above i.e. why fork out to protect our business against something that may never happen? Again, why risk it? Lone worker safety systems don’t have to be eye-wateringly expensive. Far from it. They just have to automate the process of checking your lone workers, escalating alerts to responders (colleagues or contact centres) and giving workers themselves a means of subtly triggering a panic button if events should turn nasty.

3. We can just implement an in house system and monitor it ourselves

We admire the enthusiasm. And at least you’ve realised there is a risk to be mitigated. But we have to say that the big problem with this is… HUMAN ERROR. Most of our clients come to us once they’ve seen this for themselves, with ‘buddies’ forgetting to call each other and the office check in/out book gathering dust. Starting out with a homemade system does help in one way though – you identify how many lone workers you actually have!

4. Our staff won’t use it

People will use new systems if they find them easy to understand and simple to operate. This is the advantage of mobile-based lone worker safety systems. Staff already carry their mobiles; they remember to take them out with them on visits, and they find the concept of key presses easy to understand. To be successful with a lone worker safety system, your staff also need to understand exactly why they need to use it. We find that companies who make using a lone worker safety system compulsory see the best usage rates, meaning that the initial launch is successful and usage figures remain consistently high.

5. We’ve invested in personal safety training instead

Great! Personal safety training can give staff a huge amount of confidence in dealing with difficult clients and anticipating a dangerous situation. But it’s not hugely helpful once a situation has moved beyond that stage. Only an automated lone worker safety system can ensure that your lone workers are never missed and they can trigger an alert automatically once a situation has escalated beyond control.

If you are burying your head in the sand over lone worker safety, get in touch and see how we can help. Our lone worker safety system is simple and affordable, and can be tailored to suit the needs of your organisation. If you would like a free trial of Lookout Call just click here.