Five things to consider when choosing a lone worker system

Safety & Health Practitioner

Suzy Lamplugh Trust director Rachel Griffin looked at the pros and cons of choosing a lone worker strategy in a recent blog. Here, she outlines the considerations when choosing a lone worker system:

1. Think about what you want the system to do and how it will fit into and enhance the rest of your safety strategy. Be clear about what these systems can and can’t do. For example, they can alert management to a problem and trace the staff member in trouble. However, they cannot keep them safe until help gets there. That needs to be dealt with as a separate issue.
2. Think about the exact functions you need the system to perform and check these out in detail. For example, if you will be using it to trace staff members, check how closely it can pinpoint them. Would it be able to pinpoint which flat in a high rise block? What about it they went into an underground car park? Do employees visit remote venues? If so, will there be a signal and how long will a response take to get there?
3. How easy and practical is the system? Consult those staff members who will actually be using the system, to ensure they have the chance to feedback on the possible systems and that you have buy in from them. Otherwise it’s a waste of time, as the staff will find ways not to use the system.
4. Think about the training provision and maintenance support. How much training is required? Does the company provide this and what standard is it? How high maintenance are the devices and how good is the technology support from the suppliers?
5. Once you have chosen a system that you think will work for you, ask for a trial to see if it will work in practice and ask the supplier if you can speak to other companies who currently use the system to get their opinion.

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