Five smart lone worker solutions for businesses
There are so many lone worker solutions for protecting managers and the staff. In this article, you will learn how you can increase the usage of your lone worker solutions.
The way you establish a safe workplace for your lone workers is not the same as the way you manage the safety and health of your other workers. You need to do a risk assessment to know the risks your lone workers are more likely to face.
You may have to invest in lone worker solutions, like personal safety alarms or mobile apps, to control or reduce these risks. That’s why it’s important to choose one of the best warning devices on the market now. However, a lot of employers are afraid that their workers might not like these solutions.
We wrote this article to help you increase your lone worker device usage in your workplace to protect yourself and your workers.
1) Ask your employees to help you make decisions
Once you decide to invest in a specific lone worker solution, do not rush to make your decision. It is best to ask your employees to help you make the decision. You must consult your workers. They can tell you what they want the lone worker solution to do. They can share their concerns and worries in the workplace. You must also find out if they know the advantages of promoting safety and health in your workplace.
If you have invested in various lone worker solutions and your workers are not using them or not using them correctly, you can talk to your employees to know why they are not using these solutions. Your employees can stop using your solutions for various reasons.
You, therefore, need to find out these reasons. Your solutions might be difficult to use or they do not have the best features or they do not suit the roles of your employees. Your employees might not even know the benefits of using your lone worker solutions.
Once you consult your employees, you can now talk to the supplier of your chosen lone worker decision. Your supplier can help you pick the perfect solutions for your employees. If you involve your employees in choosing lone worker solutions for your business, they can help you make better decisions.
2) Effective communication
You must ensure your employees know what you expect from them in regards to your organization’s health and safety policies. You can, therefore, draw up usage guidelines for your lone worker devices and solutions. Additionally, you can write a lone worker policy. You must, however, write clear and concise policies and guidelines to avoid misunderstandings.
Here are some things to include in your policies and guidelines:
- Details of your lone worker solution, which your employee uses
- How the employee can carry or wear the device
- How to operate the solution and when to activate the device
- How and where your employees can report faults with their device
- What to do if their device is lost or damaged
- Where you employees can get support or help to use their solution
- The disciplinary consequences if an employee does not follow the procedure
3) Ask for feedback
Your employees must know that you care more about their safety. You can, therefore, invest in the best lone worker devices and apps. Ask your employees to share their feedback. You can encourage them to share both positive and negative feedback.
If you have popular employees in your workplace, they can become your health and safety advocates. They can help you promote your lone worker solutions. If they use your solutions and devices, your other employees are more likely to use them too.
4) Employee training
If some of your employees do not know how to use your new lone worker solutions, they are less likely to use them. In some cases, your supplier can offer to train your employees to use their lone worker solution.
You can participate in the training, too. If you show interest in your apps and devices, your employees are more likely to use them. You need to take your time to ensure your workers know how to use the new solutions. You can even tell them the benefits of using these devices.
5) Supervise usage
If there is a portal for monitoring the usage of your lone worker devices and apps, you can use it. You can use the portal to know how your employees use your solutions. You can even get patterns from the portal. You can analyze the portal to help you make improvements. You can improve how your employees use your apps and devices.
You, however, need to inform your workers that you will monitor them for their own safety. They should not think that you are trying to micromanage them or intrude on their privacy.
These are the top tips for getting the most out of your lone worker solutions. If you can use these tips, your employees are more likely to welcome your solutions and use them. If they can correctly use your solutions, they can improve their safety.
Photo by Deddy Yoga Pratama
