Many jobs require employees to work alone, travel often, or work in hazardous environments. These roles encompass caregivers, truck drivers, construction workers, security, and many more. Lone workers and the tasks they carry out are important, but can expose your employees to both physical and mental health risks.  

As an employer, you should provide your staff with a safe and secure working environment, especially when you have lone workers on your payroll. This article will help you identify isolated workers among your employees and how you can best secure their health and safety with lone worker safety solutions.

 In this article:

●     What Is a Lone Worker?

●     Examples of Lone Workers in the Workforce

●     Understanding the Risks Lone Workers Face

●     Employer’s Legal Safety Obligations to Employees

●     Increasing Lone Worker Safety With Tunstall Healthcare

●     Benefits of Lone Worker Safety Solutions

●     Implementation and Pricing: Tunstall’s Lone Worker Safety Solutions

●     Case Study: Ozcare and myCareAssist+ Mobile App

●     The Future of Lone Worker Safety Solutions

What Is a Lone Worker?

According to the WA Department of Mines, Industry Regulations, and Safety, an isolated worker, also known as a lone worker, is alone in any place and time as part of their work.

In simpler words, a lone worker is someone who works by themselves or in a community but with little to no contact with others.

Your employee doesn’t have to be working alone to be called a lone worker for a specific time. So long as their job requires them to work independently, be stationed in a hazardous environment, or travel alone, they’re considered an isolated worker. This is important to know because sometimes employees you may not consider to be lone workers can still face the same risks.

Examples of Lone Workers in the Workforce

Contrary to the name, lone workers are not alone all the time. They are still considered a lone worker if they:

●     Are often isolated from co-workers, supervisors, and even other members of the public

●     Work remotely or separately from others (e.g., stationed in a regional office, working from home)

●     Work past regular office hours (e.g., security personnel, call centre employees)

●     Travel long distances as part of their work (e.g., taxi drivers, freight transport drivers)

●     Work in a downsized team (i.e., less manpower on holidays)

●     Work that requires them to be isolated from others (i.e., healthcare workers)

●     Work in hazardous environments (e.g., construction sites, power plants)

Some common lone worker roles include: carers, taxi drivers, truck drivers, gas station attendants, tradespeople, technicians, security, cleaners, and anyone working from home.

Related reading: Duress Alarms in Healthcare: A Lifeline for Carers

Understanding the Risks Lone Workers Face

Working alone is part of many Australians' working lives. However, working alone can expose your employees to a variety of risks. The longer they stay a lone worker, the riskier it will be – for both employee and employer –in the long run. We can classify the risks lone workers are exposed to into two categories: 

1.    Physical health risks

2.    Mental health risks

1. Physical Health Risks Lone Workers Face

One of the most obvious risks of working alone is that it’s much harder to call for help in emergencies. If you have employees living with  a medical condition or disability, or at risk of having accidents, not having any co-workers or supervisors around to check up on them makes working alone even more dangerous. Having limited or inadequate access to emergency facilities can make the job even riskier than it already is.

Working in hazardous places such as power plants and construction sites can be risky for many lone workers. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ 2017–2018 Work-Related Injuries report, 15% of working Australians sustained work-related injuries from a fall. Those falls can quickly turn fatal without anyone there to help.

Lone workers are also more vulnerable to violence and confrontation. For example, security personnel often work unpredictable hours and confront intruders and other aggressive members of the public.

2. Mental Health Risks Lone Workers Face

Working alone for long periods can also put your workers’ mental health at risk. Being away from co-workers can increase feelings of isolation, which can lead to frustration and stress. Stress can have significant adverse effects on your employees—decreased productivity, anxiety, unhappiness—and your company. In fact, Australian businesses lose more than $10 billion a year to employee unproductivity.

Employer’s Legal Safety Obligations to Employees

As an employer, you are responsible for the health, safety, and welfare of your workers. You're no doubt aware of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (Australia) and the Health and Safety at Work Act (New Zealand) and hopefully fulfil your obligations to provide a safe and risk-free work environment for all your employees. However, lone workers can be easily forgotten, and their safety and the safety of their work environment can be overlooked, since they can be seen as being somewhat detached from the workforce.

As an employer, you are responsible for providing and maintaining Work Health and Safety (WHS) protocols such as providing:

●     A workplace with safe machinery and equipment

●     An organised and safe work system (i.e., controlling entry and exit of employees within the work area)

●     A safe way to use, handle, store, and transport substances (when applicable)

●     A workplace with functional safety precautions in case of emergencies (i.e., fire exits and systems, reinforced walls for earthquakes)

●     A program that informs, instructs, and trains them on doing work in a safe health risk-free way

Employees are also responsible for taking proper care of themselves. Make sure to remind your staff to comply with the WHS rules implemented in your company, and provide adequate resources, training and means for them to do so.

Increasing Lone Worker Safety With Tunstall Healthcare

Working in isolation poses a risk to both you and your employees. Should an unforeseen accident occur, immediate assistance may be unavailable. This leaves your workers with a sense of uncertainty and can leave you looking for alternate ways of minimising workplace risk.

On top of complying with WHS protocols in your workplace, you can take extra steps to increase workplace safety with lone worker safety solutions.

Tunstall Healthcare’s Connected Care service is a simple yet effective option that provides a better base of support for lone workers all over Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific. With our 60 years of data-driven experience and global expertise, we’ve developed a range of mobile and fixed devices perfect for all types of work environments and situations. All our devices are connected to our 24/7 care monitoring service, ensuring your employees’ safety each time they clock in for work.

Tunstall Healthcare’s Connected Care Model

Tunstall’s Connected Care model for lone workers places employees at the heart of workplace safety. With Connected Care added to your office’s WHS protocols, you can protect your employees from when they clock in up to the time they clock out.

All your employee needs to do is log in their attendance at the start and end of their shift with Tunstall's myCareAssist+ app. Should the app not record any logs, it will alert a 24/7 Tunstall Healthcare Care Consultant who will check whether your employee is okay. Our Care Consultant will assess the situation and send help should the situation call for it.

You can read more detail about how our Connected Care Model supports Lone Workers at our designated Lone Workers Page, but here’s a snapshot of how the entire process works:

Lifestream by Guardian

The Lifestream mobile app is designed to improve safety for your lone workers. The app has many features that help identify lone workers in need of assistance, including: 

●     GPS location

●     24/7 monitoring

●     Check-in and -out functions

●     SOS button

The lone worker app has a built-in check-in and -out system. Employees use this to note when and where they begin their remote work, which keeps you up to date on their whereabouts. Should your employee fail to check-out, our Care Consultant will follow up and assess the situation, by directly contacting both the lone worker and the employer. If necessary, and if part of the protocols we've agreed with the employer, we could escalate the situation by sending an emergency response team to help the lone worker in need.

Your employees can also tap on the 24/7 SOS call button should they experience an accident, or require other forms of assistance.

 The Lifestream mobile app’s GPS location will track your employee’s location and forward it to our Care Consultant, who will coordinate the necessary emergency response. This way, both you and your lone workers have an added network of WHS support.

Tunstall’s Fall Detector and Pendant Alarm Devices

Lone workers in remote areas and hazardous environments are more susceptible to fatal accidents. Equipping your isolated employees with a fall detector or pendant alarm like the Tunstall GO can help minimise workplace accidents. 

These devices give your lone workers assurance that help will be on the way if a fall or accident happens. In 2020 there were 158 work-related deaths in Australia, underlining the importance of an immediate support system is for lone worker safety.

 For example, here’s how our Tunstall GO fall pendant works:

Calling for help

To activate the Tunstall GO during an emergency, your employee presses and holds on the device’s two call buttons.

Connecting to a Tunstall Customer Consultant

The alarm will then connect your lone worker to Tunstall’s 24-hour care monitoring service. A Care Consultant will speak to them right from the device’s hands-free speakerphone.

Explaining the emergency

Once connected to the Customer Care Centre, your employee explains their situation to the Care Consultant. Advise your lone worker to speak clearly and slowly beforehand so the operator can understand them during emergencies.

Sending for help

Every company has unique requirements; our response to a lone worker alert is always tailored to the needs of the employer and the employee, with agreed protocols put in place to ensure an appropriate response for your workers' safety is prioritised.

A typical response to an emergency may look like:

After relaying their circumstances to the Care Consultant, we will assess the lone worker's situation and send the necessary emergency services. As their employer, we’ll also contact and forward your employee’s status to you.

To help your lone worker stay calm during the emergency, the Tunstall Care Consultant stays on the line with them until help arrives.

Getting help

The Tunstall Care Consultant will never end the call until the police or paramedics arrive, and the emergency services workers can take over the situation.

Benefits of Lone Worker Safety Solutions

Lone Worker Safety Solutions: Benefits for Employees

Accidents can happen at any time, especially when they’re least expected. The risks isolated workers face alone make them susceptible to accidents. Tunstall’s lone worker alarms are designed to help your employees seek immediate assistance in such emergencies, whether it be a minor slip or a significant fall, or lone workers who in other hazardous environments including feeling threatened or otherwise in danger.

Equipping your employees with personal alarms and assistive apps means help can come to them that much faster. The sooner your injured employee gets medical attention, the better their chances of making a full recovery.

When it comes to emergencies, time is of the essence. Each second counts and can spell the difference between minor and significant injuries. This makes lone worker safety solutions among the simplest yet most effective life-saving tools in the workplace.

Every employee has the right to feel safe and have peace of mind at work. Your lone workers are no exception. Lone worker safety solutions can build confidence in your employees, allowing them to work productively even in challenging work situations. They can do this all with the assurance that help is a call away.

Lone Worker Safety Solutions: Benefits for Employers

If an incident were to occur with your isolated worker, you, as the employer, could be held accountable. As such, Tunstall’s lone worker safety solutions help you lessen the risks your isolated employees are exposed to as they go about doing their work. Providing your employees with personal safety apps, alarms, and fall pendants strengthens your current WHS protocols.

We all know that happy employees make for a productive workplace. It’s no secret—employees who feel secured and taken care of are motivated to work harder and better. The opposite is true; if they feel unsafe at work, they’d be less productive. That’s why it’s important to boost employee morale by reliably protecting them through lone worker safety solutions.

When your employees see that you’re taking concrete steps to prioritise their safety, their loyalty towards the company increases. This helps foster a positive company culture which can yield lower turnover rates and improve the company's reputation within your industry.

Implementation and Pricing: Tunstall’s Lone Worker Safety Solutions

At Tunstall Healthcare, we understand that every company has its own unique work environments. We believe your input is crucial in figuring out an ideal lone worker safety solution plan that best suits your business and employees. As such, our installation and price points are tailor-fit to consider your company’s size as well as the products and services you require.

Contact us to learn more about our tailored lone worker solutions packages or arrange a quote. We’d love to hear from you!

Case Study: Ozcare and myCareAssist+ Mobile App

Ozcare has been providing health and disability support services to many Queenslanders in the past 20 years. Since onboarding Tunstall Healthcare’s myCareAssist+ mobile app in April 2016, Ozcare’s Head of Community Care Damian Foley has observed increased confidence among his lone working staff.

“myCareTrack is simple, easy to use and fosters a sense of security in our employees who work alone,” said Mr. Foley.

“We have a long-standing relationship with Tunstall and are confident in their products and services, so it made sense to expand our working relationship to include a staff safety solution,” he said.

Click here to learn more about how Ozcare improved its employee security with Tunstall's Connected Care service.

The Future of Lone Worker Safety Solutions

Technology’s rapid pace has paved the way for advancements in lone worker safety solutions. Wearable devices like Connected Care fall detectors and personal alarms in Australia are becoming more sophisticated; thus, becoming more effective in securing lone workers’ safety across all kinds of work environments and situations.

Multi-functional lone worker safety solutions are also more common and accessible than ever before. More and more personal alarms in Australia like the Tunstall GO fall detector pendant have two-way communication, and new features are being constantly developed and rolled out.

We can also expect to see technological support that augments manual tasks, which reduces isolated employees’ exposure to risk and dangerous environments. Remotely operated robots monitor sewers and deep-sea pipelines, augmented reality provides additional information in hazardous environments, and Exosuits support strength, endurance and precision in a range of tasks.

As market leaders in the Connected Healthcare space, you can always count on Tunstall Healthcare to leverage the latest advancements in technology in developing lone worker safety solutions that adapt to changing working environments and secure your lone workers' confidence.

Tunstall Healthcare: Your Partner in Lone Worker Safety Solutions

Securing your lone worker’s confidence in doing their job efficiently and safely is much easier now with Tunstall Healthcare’s range of lone worker safety solutions. Coupled with our Connected Care services, you can be assured that when your isolated employees set out for work, you’ve already secured help for whenever and wherever they’ll need it.

Need help understanding which lone worker safety solutions and personal alarms in Australia are out there and which ones best fit your business? Contact us at Tunstall Healthcare today. We’re more than happy to help support your lone worker’s safety with you.

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