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Creating a safe workplace for your lone workers

Every business knows that establishing a healthy and safe working environment is essential in order to protect and look after your employees. Whilst there are many companies out there who take their health and safety responsibilities seriously, many do not pay enough attention to more vulnerable staff, such as lone workers, who may often find themselves in dangerous situations.  

There is no general legal prohibition to working alone, but with a sizeable chunk of the UK workforce required to operate alone in remote locations and high-risk environments, businesses need to pay more attention and ensure they are providing adequate protection to create a safe workplace for everyone.

Health and safety doesn’t have to be costly or time consuming. In fact, small businesses often reap the benefits of implementing health and safety laws, and see a reduction in operating costs, lower insurance premiums and a generally happier and more loyal workforce. Conversely, the cost of not protecting your lone workers can be detrimental – and far outweighs the small investment it takes to protect them. Example costs shown in this infographic by LoneALERT suggest that an injured worker who is hospitalized and off work for twelve weeks could amount to a total loss of £45,000 to the business.

The considerations are simple, but the level of protection required for your lone workers are company and industry specific. The first step is to identify the challenges, and then put effective plans and communication processes in place to ensure that safety is integrated across the entire communications infrastructure of your business. Good safety management requires close co-operation between business owners, directors, supervisors and employees to help achieve this.  After all, managing health and safety is not just about preventing injuries and ill health – it is a core component of a successful business.

For further information, contact Mathew Colley of LoneALERT, the global provider of lone worker protection solutions, offering a range of lone worker alarms, man-down devices and solutions to help keep your workforce safe.

 lone working infographic

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