Lone Worker Protection
Over the last 5 years the number of Lone Workers both in the UK and abroad has increased dramatically as more and more employers have sought to provide products and services in the home or at business locations and, at the same time, have actively sought to reduce costs by ensuring these products and services can be delivered or performed by just one employee.
As a result, the number of environmental incidents (known as 'slips, trips and falls') experienced by many organisations has increased significantly. More alarmingly, so too has the number of incidents involving either abuse or attack.
In the UK this has lead to revisions to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidelines on the risks of lone working which they address in their document 'Working Alone' (INDG73rev2). Failure to comply with these guidelines exposes both public and private sector organisations to risk of prosecution under the Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Act (2007). According to the Sentencing Guidelines Council in February 2010 this will result in:-
- 'A seven-figure fine, and rarely less than £500,000'
- A publicity order which would 'ordinarily be imposed'
Failure to comply also exposes employees, managers or Directors to two years in prison under the Health and Safety Offenses Act 2008, which is not targeted at the organisation but at individuals.
INDG73rev2 refers to the need for 'procedures to be put in place to monitor lone workers to help keep them healthy and safe'. It also addresses 'devices designed to raise an alarm in an emergency ...[that]can be operated manually or automatically by the absence of activity'.
Click here to view solutionsThe Romex solution is based on the GPS enabled mobile phone that most employees already have which avoids both the cost of another piece of hardware and the need to remember to manage (e.g. charge) and carry two bits of kit at all times.
Where the alerts generated on the mobile phone are managed by a third party Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC), the Romex solution is fully BS 8484 compliant. The ARC we Partner with in providing this outsourced solution is BS 5979 Category II compliant and has ACPO accreditation to obtain URNs from all of the regional Police forces in the UK.
The same solution can also be deployed on a 'Self-Managed' basis where the alerts are sent to the organisation itself to manage.
The Romex solution provides both Red Alerts and (shortly) Yellow Alerts, which are triggered in the absence of activity, in accordance with INDG73rev2. The solution uses GPS information to provide pin-point accuracy and generates a voice call automatically so operators can listen in to what is happening to the employee.
Where the Lone Worker solution is used alongside our employee management solution operators also have full visibility of where the employee was and what he or she was doing before the panic alert is generated.
Click here to learn more about the benefits of Romexweb- Improved safety and peace of mind for employees - positive impact on staff retention and recruitment
- Reduced risk to the organisation and legislative compliance
- Pin-point accuracy using GPS and voice call to monitor events remotely
- Keeps cost to a minimum - no additional hardware needed
- Ease of use - no need to manage and carry two bits of hardware
- Self managed or ARC outsourced management with BS 8484 compliance
