Lone working at Christmas can be a particularly busy and stressful experience and Mad Friday is the busiest day of them all. Let’s look at the best ways of staying safe with a lone worker device on Mad Friday.
What Is Mad Friday?
If you didn’t already know, Mad Friday (aka Black Friday or Frantic Friday) is the nickname that has been given to the last Friday before Christmas, because that is the busiest day for works Christmas parties.
This year Mad Friday falls on the 20th December and anyone working in the hospitality and transport industry or the emergency services will more than likely find that Mad Friday will be their busiest day of the year.
Helping Your Lone Workers Stay Safe On Mad Friday
If you employ lone workers who will be working on Mad Friday, there are several steps you can take to ensure that they feel and stay as safe as possible.
We have previously written about what the employer of a lone worker must do and one of the most important requirements is a lone worker policy.
So, before Mad Friday it is a good idea to review your lone worker policy, check that it is up to date, including the escalation contact list and make any necessary amendments.
Then we would recommend that you go through the policy with your lone workers so that they can ask any questions and help them to feel comfortable with what they will be doing.
The next step is to carry out a lone worker risk assessment of where they will be working. These need to be carried out regularly to ensure that they are up to date and consider changes in season and environment.
The lone worker risk assessment should identify any hazards, for example, rain making a floor slippy, and risks, in this case, the danger of a lone worker slipping on the floor and being injured.
Staying Safe With A Lone Worker Device
Lone worker devices, like we provide here at First2HelpYou, add another layer of safety and security.
We’ve all more than likely used the GPS signal on our phone to find out where we are when lost, or used the ‘find my phone’ applications that let you track a family members phone, but Lone Worker devices offer so much more.
Lone worker devices are used to send an alert by the worker if they are in danger and are connected to a monitoring centre that is manned 24 hours a day, 365 days a week.
In a dangerous situation, the worker activates a red (or amber) alert that is sent to the monitoring centre.
The staff at the monitoring centre, who are highly skilled in dealing with emergencies, then quickly decide on the next step, which will usually be contacting an escalation contact or the emergency services.
Along with all the lone worker safety procedures we have already mentioned, we do think that staying safe with a lone worker device is the best way to keep your lone workers as safe as possible.
Lone Worker Amber Alerts
One feature of the lone worker devices that we think could make a huge difference to a lone worker on Mad Friday is the amber alert.
Unlike the red alert, the amber alert is a proactive safety measure. How it works is that the lone worker leaves a message with the monitoring centre explaining where they will be and how long they will be there.
Then when the worker has finished their appointment, they can deactivate the amber alert.
If, however, the allotted time has elapsed, the monitoring centre will attempt to contact them and if there is no answer, go to the next agreed step, whether it is trying to call an escalation contact or the emergency services.
This could be particularly useful for a taxi or bus driver, working into the small hours of the morning and having to deal with drunk and aggressive customer.
Or for a medical worker who has to go to a house call in the middle of the night on their own.
The lone worker devices would also be useful for bar staff who suddenly find themselves on their own for a few hours because of staff sickness.
As an employer, the lone worker devices are a useful way of making sure you know where your staff are.
Our Connect Portal lets you see where they are all located so you can check that they haven’t got lost in a dodgy area or haven’t moved for a long time.
Speaking of which, our lone worker devices also have a ‘man down’ function that is activated when the device comes into contact with a heavy object such as falling onto concrete or being shoved to the floor.
Lone Worker Device Re-training
Of course, you may already have lone worker devices for your employees but how long ago were they purchased and does everyone know how they operate?
It is important to do some refresher training with all staff who will be lone working so that they will feel comfortable using the device.
Also, please be sure to test that all devices are working correctly and fully charged. Mad Friday is always a very long day and night, so you don’t want batteries to run out.
Get In Touch
If you have any questions about staying safe with a lone worker device on Mad Friday or would like some more information on our Lone Worker Devices, then please do get in touch.
You can call us on 0333 7729401, email sales@first2helpyou.co.uk or use our online contact form here.
