Home Workers Equals Lone Workers: What Can Be Done to Help?

A lone worker is defined by the U.K.’s Health and Safety Executive as “those who work by themselves without close or direct supervision.” As the world has evolved due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many more people are now working at their residence. In April 2020 in the United Kingdom, 46.6% of the nation’s workforce was working from home. It has been found that many employees are more willing to stay employed by their employer if they could continue to work from home rather than returning to their offices. Just as social workers or engineers are considered lone workers, those working from home are also falling into this “lone worker” slot. Lone worker safety solution providers—such as Vismo, Solo Protect, and Lone Worker Solutions—all offer products for those who now work from home. These providers have expanded their portfolio to include solutions in order to protect lone workers working on the streets and at home.

Lone working is not a new concept in any way. However, including home workers within this category is a rising concept. Home working has been found to have little impact on productivity. In fact, productivity has increased in many instances due to employees’ having a higher motivation to work since they know that they have the flexibility required in their schedule for emergency appointments, childcare, and other day-to-day tasks. While employees working at home are facing next to no risk due to their working at home, employers still have a duty to care for their staff, regardless of where the staff is reporting to work. This duty involves keeping in touch and checking in on employees’ well-being—and this is more important in the current climate due to how isolating working at home can be.

Employers will be looking for cost-effective ways in which they can monitor their employees, and a lone working solution may be the best way to go. It can be difficult to check in with every employee, especially for large companies. Lone worker solutions enable employers to monitor their employees and know specifically which employee they need to arrange catch-ups with. App-based solutions are best suited for home workers as these employees are likely to have their phones alongside them, giving them easy access to an app. Apps made with home workers in mind allow for different actions for the employee when they are feeling isolated and have other similar feelings. The employee can simply press a button on the app—sending an alert to the relevant party within the company—to notify this party of their feelings. The relevant party can then schedule a catch-up meeting to discuss solutions with the employee to help ease those feelings.

The lone worker monitoring market is heavily evolving and incorporating the use of app-based solutions in industries for which this type of app is suited. For example, those working in more remote areas will be heavily dependent on devices that are connected via satellite, especially where GSM connectivity is not an option—for example, employees who work in mining industries would benefit more from additional hardware rather than an app-based solution that operates on a smartphone or tablet in an area where cellular connectivity may not be available. However, home workers would likely rely on a smartphone app if the employers are looking to investing in communication apps for their home workers.

As home working is looking to stay, it is important for health and safety officers to review all of their options regarding their employees who work from home. Mental well-being is as equally important as physical well-being. The United Kingdom is one of the key countries in which lone worker solutions are growing, with 250,000 certified connected solutions in 2020 according to the British Security Industry Association (BSIA). The country has regulations in place for both manufacturers and employers. Manufacturers are required to be BS8484 certified for their devices and solutions so that these devices/solutions can appear on the BSIA website as a recommended provider. BS8484:2016 explains in different sections solution requirements as well as what solution providers should be delivering regarding training and support. For example, section 4 sets out the business requirements that suppliers of lone worker safety services should adhere to, section 5 has been updated to choose between devices and apps, and section 6 provides a view of what type of training and support should be delivered by solution providers.

The development of new applications will benefit home workers in the future. The lone worker safety service market has already started to shift toward app-based services and will continue to do so in the future. As those working from home continue in their new workspace normality, it will be comforting for them to know that their employer has put measures in place to ensure that their well-being is a priority.