Lone Worker Safety and Security

As we continue through the third UK lockdown, the global pandemic is continuing to disrupt ‘business as usual’. Many are embracing new ways to manage with compulsory and voluntary restrictions to their everyday operations. In order to keep costs under control many businesses have decided to utilise more lone workers for day, evening and overnight shifts.

With many of the population shielding and social distancing there is also a higher demand for delivered goods, therefore an increase in home deliveries. Some businesses such as restaurants and retailers are relying solely on employees providing delivery services to ensure that they keep afloat. Businesses such as banks and healthcare providers are running with a lone employee or a limited number of staff working at one time.

As we move through this difficult and challenging time, it’s important for businesses to ensure that their lone workers are secure and safe whilst they carry out their daily duties with confidence. If you have members of staff that are alone during their working hours, you should have or consider having a lone worker policy in place. You can find out more here on the UK Government website.

For a lone worker there are many risks such as an illness or accident, violence, threats or abuse, theft or intruders and driving related incidents. As an employer, you have a legal obligation to carefully consider the health and safety risks of your lone working staff members. That’s where we can help with our market leading app.

Challenger’s mobile application MobileLWP can be installed on any smartphone and operated without the need for an additional device. It offers safety and security features such as Routine Welfare Checks (RWC) and SOS Panic Alerts.

The Routine Welfare Checks (RWC) can be set up by your employee using their handset. This means that the administrator of the app, usually the employer or manager, is informed that the worker needs to be monitored for a period of time that is set by the user. If the monitoring time passes without a response from the employee working alone, the app will activate an emergency call to whoever the administrator is via the web-based system.

The app also features a bolt-on, Near Field Communications (NFC), which enables the administrator to know the whereabouts of their employees at all times. It allows your lone workers to swipe in and out of designated locations which have been NFC tagged. That way, your lone workers can let their employer or manager know when they have arrived at a specific location, when they left and how long they spent there. This functionality can also be linked with the RWC to automatically set a routine check when a lone worker presents their device at a certain destination.

You also have a duty as an employer to ensure that your employees are kept safe and secure whilst using company vehicles to deliver the goods or services you provide. With Challenger’s Fleet Management you can proactively monitor your company vehicles through our comprehensive and cost-effective GPS vehicle and mobile solutions.

Through our fleet management software, you can receive live vehicle locations of your remote workers, monitor driver behaviour and view driver analytics to identify the condition of your fleet of vehicles. There are also many other benefits such as:

• Minimise breakdowns and reduce expensive repair costs
• Diagnose vehicle issues and monitor vehicle warning lights
• Receive battery health warnings
• View live fuel levels
• Identify areas of driving improvement and reduce accident rates
• Cut fuel costs by up to 20%
• Reduce the cost of insurance premiums
• Minimise harsh breaking, accelerating or over-revving
• View excessive idling and over-cornering

With 30 years of experience, Challenger are well equipped to help you support your lone workers with all-important tracking and protection.

For more information on how Challenger can protect your team with their Lone Worker Protection package, get in touch with us today on 0330 002 2111 or info@cmc.uk.net.