Safety and personal responsibility go hand in hand. True, a company director has overall responsibility for health and safety but each person in an organisation has a duty to protect themselves. Given the right tools and education, this is easy to do. If you already own a First2HelpYou lone worker device or your employees use them, we have listed some ways below that you can help you maximise the use you get from your device.
In this blog we will look at 5 ways to support lone worker’s mental health that you can easily implement in your company, no matter what size or sector you are in.
Working alone can take a toll on even the most resilient lone worker. Looking after your lone workers should include their mental wellbeing, as well as their physical wellbeing.
Number 5-Keep them Safe-is absolutely vital. Read on to find out more.
It looks like summer has well and truly departed and we are quickly heading into winter. No fun when you work alone! Being out and about on dark nights presents new hazards and it’s sensible to take extra precautions.
Those who are working alone can feel isolated from their employer and colleagues, in turn, these feelings of isolation can lead to depression, anxiety or stress. This is before we even get to workload or work type related stress. Lone working related stress is real.
Employers have a duty to look after and protect their lone workers, but if you work alone you also have an obligation to help keep yourself safe. Personal safety is so important and when you are out and about, on your own, there is only so much your employer can do to help keep you away from harm. Having your wits about you and being aware of the hazards at all times is as important as carrying a lone worker device or your employer having a good lone worker policy in place.
Lone workers in retail are under threat.
Lone working is a scary enough job but some sectors face higher threats, particularly verbal or physical violence. On such sector is retail. Earlier this year, The British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) annual Retail Crime Survey revealed a worrying spike in violence against retail staff, with the number of incidents happening at twice the rate of last year’s survey.
Last week we looked at who has a Duty of Care in a workplace, and why it is important to meet those duties.
This week we will have a look at exactly what an employer’s Duty of Care requires from an employee and give some practical tips.
An Escalation Contact is a person, usually a lone worker’s colleague, who is given the responsibility to be the first line of support for a lone worker in the event of an emergency when it is not appropriate to call the emergency services.
Working alone is perfectly legal, as long as you take steps to reduce the risk and manage any hazards associated with being alone or unsupervised.
