Lone worker protection needs rethinking for business efficiency 22 October 2012

Safeguarding lone workers is not only relatively simple, but it can also transform business productivity and effectiveness, according to Chris Potts, sales and marketing manager at ANT Telecom.

Referring to the HSE's introduction of its 'Fee for Intervention', Potts says that simply providing a mobile phone is not enough to fulfil an organisation's lone worker health and safety obligations.

However, he also says that, to make financial sense, choosing the right system should not only be about reducing risk. Users should "consider whether improving communications could deliver productivity improvements", he advises.

"For example, providing a robust communications framework can also enable the organisation to deliver a real-time alert to an engineer if a machine has failed and needs repair," explains Potts.

His advice: for a system that integrates radio, GSM, DECT and Wi-Fi. Plant managers can then not only meet their health and safety obligations, but also improve the timeliness of repair, minimise administrative processes involved in locating and allocating an engineering resource, and increases machine uptime.

"It may be tempting to opt for the most basic lone worker solution – a simple, press button alarm device," comments Potts.

"However, not only may this fail to meet health and safety requirements, but, by considering the opportunities for combining employee protection with business efficiency, an organisation can drive significant benefit by improving productivity, gaining significant return from a necessary investment."

Brian Tinham

Related Companies
ANT Telecommunications Ltd

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