Recent changes to Health and Safety Guidelines (INDG73rev2)

 

With the recent revision to the Health and safety regulations for Lone working (INDG73 Rev 2), employees are now able to raise an alarm via a mobile phone. Romex has responded to this amendment by developing software that uses accurate GPS information as-well as cell location technology to pinpoint an employee’s position in the event of an emergency. To read more

Recent changes to Health and Safety Guidelines (INDG73rev2) and the new BS8484 standard for Lone Worker services means that providing Panic Alerts via a mobile phone is the best way for companies to provide compliance with Duty of Care to their employees.

Romex has worked to develop a Lone Worker Protection (panic button) Solution for GPS enabled mobile phones. This software is available for Blackberry, Windows and Symbian devices. The innovative lone worker solution is unique in that it delivers pinpoint accuracy via the phones GPS and offers both red and yellow alerts for employees and can be self monitored or managed by a 24/7 Alarm Receiving Centre. This is the best way for companies to provide compliance with Duty of Care to their employees.

The HSE defines a lone worker as:

Someone who works by themselves without close or direct supervision Lone workers include those who:

  • work from a fixed base, such as one person working alone on a premises (eg, shops, petrol stations etc);

  • work separately from others on the same premises (eg security staff) or work outside normal hours;

  • work away from a fixed base (eg, maintenance workers, health care workers, environment inspectors);

  • work at home (homeworkers); and

  • mobile workers (eg, taxi drivers).
     

The number of people working alone is increasing. As automation spreads in factories and offices, solitary work is becoming more frequent. The growing practice of sub-contracting, outplacement and teleworking also add to the growth of lone working. In addition, the combined push of increased mobility and the development of interactive communication technologies encourage the development of one-person operations. As well as those who work alone for the majority of their working time, there is a greater number of people who work alone part of the time (Chappell & Di Martino, 2000). Lone work does not automatically imply a higher risk of violence, but it is generally understood that working alone does increase the vulnerability of workers. Moreover, this vulnerability will depend on the type of situation in which the lone work is being carried out.

The key risks identified by the HSE are as follows:

  • Alcohol and drug use, by clients and members of the public with whom the lone worker comes into contact. Alcohol and drug use can make people aggressive and their behaviour unpredictable.

  • Geographical locations. Certain areas of towns or cities, eg town centres or council estates, were known to have a higher risk of violence.

  • Late evening/early morning work. Working during these times carried an increased risk of violence because there were generally either fewer people around, a greater number of ‘unsavoury characters’, or people under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

  • Nature of the job. In some jobs lone workers hold positions of power or authority over customers or clients which can cause resentment and cause people to be more aggressive.

  • Clients or customer behaviour. For a number of reasons, clients or customers can be highly emotional, unpredictable or aggressive.

  • Other people or situations encountered whilst doing job. These include members of the public, youths and animals.

  • Travelling, visiting homes and carrying money or equipment were also identified as key risks.
     

In all the situations described above, Romex’s device tracking software would instantly enable a lone worker to raise the alarm via their mobile phone. The software is configured to work as a panic button in emergency situations. When threatened or injured, the user presses a pre-configured button on the Smartphone that is programmed to call the monitoring centre. Romex's monitoring solution on a range of Smartphone devices allows the monitoring centre to remotely listen in to the employee's handset thus determining a course of action to follow. This technology means a lone worker if in a hostile, dangerous or threatening situation can discreetly send an alarm with the knowledge that a trained operative is listening to the situation they are in.


This software monitors workers in two ways. Firstly for the lone worker situation, the handset software allows an individual to raise either a Red alert in an emergency or a Yellow alert when they require pro-active monitoring in a potentially dangerous environment. Red Alerts will immediately alert other company colleagues that they require assistance via email/sms and voice or an operative at a monitoring centre if that level of service is required. The message from the mobile phone sends accurate positional data as well as automating a voice call from the handset. The combination of the Romex core management solution and the new panic button facility produces all the current and historic information required to deal with a potentially dangerous situation for anyone working alone. Yellow Alerts allow an individual to log their location before entering a building and set an alert for a specific time, if it is not cleared within the set time it will convert to a Red Alert.

The alarm generates positional data and sends its information back to the Romex servers and to a 24/7 alarm receiving centre. Businesses have the choice of managing employee alarms internally or externally via a dedicated 3rd party monitoring facility linked directly to the emergency services.

Commenting on the innovation, Jason Laight, Sales Director, says: “The request to integrate lone-worker services with our positioning software originated from our customer base. The main advantage of linking panic alarms to the Romex software include matching an incident to a precise location without the requirement for a separate GPS tracking device”.

Laight continued. “This technology is a further example of the fundamental role the GPS device is now playing in business to manage the mobile workforce.”