As many companies and employees know, a healthy working environment that employs good workplace safety is what many of us strive to achieve on a daily basis. But when working in a number of different environments as a lone worker, workplace safety is made more difficult to achieve due to a lack of oversight or emergency needs that the lone worker may have.There are a number of safe work practices and aids that lone workers can use to help out even in the most hazardous of situations.
Keeping tabs on oversight
Without oversight, keeping up a safe and healthy working environment as a lone worker can be tough going. It is near on impossible to safety access processes that you are performing whilst on the job, especially in more hazardous environments. If something goes wrong such as an accident and there is nobody at hand to help, lone worker safety aids can kick into action when otherwise tragedy might strike.
Businesses are required to comply with specific regulations relating to lone worker safety in Australia and need to be accredited to comply with health and safety representatives (HSRs) regulations. As a country that has a huge land mass that is relatively unoccupied, Australia one of the countries to suffer from lone worker safety accidents over many decades.
Conforming to government regulations
Official government regulations have come into aid businesses and employees reach their health and safety targets, by requiring many businesses to take safety assessment tests based on official regulations for both the businesses and the workers.
Certain lone worker dangers are greater than others, so a full assessment of a specific lone worker environment must take place to assess all of the dangers and good working practices for that particular worker. The regulations depend on a few different factors but require the assessment to be taken place when dangerous or hazardous working environments are involved, such as:
- Working at heights
- Working with Electricity
- Working with materials under extreme pressures
- Working with the public with a potential for violence
- Working in confined spaces
- Working with hazardous substances and materials
In March 2012, the Australian government updated the lone worker safety policy to become mandatory and not legally optional as was a loophole found in the past. Contact with the outside world for these workers working alone is of great importance, which is why many companies have taken these hazards or risks and found a solution.
Take advantage of the latest technology
Businesses that employ lone workers to carry out their tasks are seeing the benefits of utilising a monitoring service for their workers. These types of services offer GPS tracking, radio communication as well as traditional phone tower communication.
Many services offer a panic or emergency alarm system which can then identify an emergency and notify the police or ambulance or fire services and direct them to a specific GPS geo-location site where the alarm was raised.
This is a great option for small to medium sized businesses and allows the company to raise the level of workplace safety for lone workers and individual safety solutions on a personal basis. Call Service provides a comprehensive lone worker support service for Australian businesses to ensure the safety of the employee.
Getting things right when it comes to safety the first time around is of paramount importance to the well-being of workers, whether they are a courier, mobile crane operator or a farmer. Safety saves lives.
