Countries with lone worker legislation
If you plan to do business in these countries, you will have to abide by the local legislation. For more information on the local Occupational Health and Safety Laws and Regulations in your country, please contact us so we can put you in touch with a distributor in your country.
Download the Government Commcare remote-or-isolated-work-guide
DownloadThe following countries have enacted lone worker legislation:
• Australia
• Canada (Provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan)
• France
• Germany
• United Kingdom
• Spain
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
• Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977(a) and The Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996(b)
• The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007
• Fire Act 2005
Managing lone workers
Common practices used by companies to manage the personal safety of their Lone Workers are:
• Conducting Risk Assessments
• Documenting a Lone Worker Policy
• Implementation of a Buddy System
• Lone Worker Training
• Conflict Management Training
• Use of monitoring systems and equipment (Panic Alarms, Mandown (fall/impact) Detectors, Pendant Trackers, GPS based Mobile Apps.
According to the RCN’s survey, more than 60% of community nurses spend more than half of their time as a lone worker without immediate access to a colleague for support.
Over 70% reported having been subjected to either physical or verbal abuse during the course of their jobs in the past two years, with many agreeing that the risk they face has increased (largely due to the increased expectations of patients, their relatives and carers).
Thankfully, the use of lone worker devices by many NHS Trusts and private healthcare firms is helping to alleviate this situation.
Working alongside their clients in the healthcare sector, several members of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) have developed highly effective lone worker devices equipped with GSM (mobile phone) technology to connect employees quickly and discreetly with an emergency response system that has direct links to the police. GPS Geo Guard device is available in many countries globally. If you are interested in becoming a GPS Geo Guard Channel Partner please CLICK HERE.
Monitored by an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC), GPS Geo Guard lone worker devices allow users to send a pre-activation message when they are entering an area of potential risk (for example, a dark car park).
If the end user experiences a problem or encounters a situation that seems likely to escalate into something more serious than the lone worker device can be activated to summon help.
Activating the lone worker device automatically triggers a voice call to the ARC. No further action is required by the user, as the device effectively functions as an open microphone, enabling the ARC to capture an audio recording of the incident for future action such as police investigation of legal proceedings.
Operators at the ARC also monitor the audio channel in real-time, enabling them to assess the situation and alert the police if the user needs help or protection. This procedure allows the police to optimise their response to genuine emergencies by providing a ‘moving picture’ of the incident, including an increase or decrease in risk as it happens.
The very knowledge that this is taking place is, of course, a major boost to the user’s confidence. Over 40% of respondents to the RCN’s survey agreed that the use of a lone worker device would increase their confidence to work alone.
Help many companies increase their worker moral and confidence at the same time, as offering the bench mark in lone and high risk worker safety and security with GPS Geo Guard Man Down Duress Alarm with two-way live and recorded audio for evidence and total worker safety.
