Lone workers in Trade Unions
Trade unions and safety
More than one in five British workers are part of a trade union. While nearly half of all public sector workers are unionised, this drops to about 1/10 for the private sector.
Trade unions aim to protect and advance the interests of their members. Sometimes, unions will be fighting for better pay and benefits, but they also have a long history of protecting workers’ safety and well-being.
In fact, the benefits of union organising on health and safety have been documented since 1897!
Trade union policies around lone working
Many of the major British trade unions have guidance on lone working (or staying safe when working alone) including the TUC, Unison and Unite.
In this article, we will explain the laws and responsibilities employers have around lone working, how unions can help keep lone workers safe, and what trade unions should look out for when working with lone worker solutions.
We will be distilling advice from top trade unions, as well as from our experience providing lone working expertise to public and private institutions such as the NHS, Aldi, and Mitsubishi, as well as various councils and universities.
What is lone working and why does it affect trade unions?
A lone worker is best described as “someone who works out of eyesight or earshot of their colleagues for some of the day”.
The work that lone workers do (working with the public, during unsociable hours or on the road, for instance) may come with specific risks –but that’s not the end of it.
What workers and unions should remember, however, is that any task may be inherently riskier for lone workers simply “because the worker is on their own” (Quote from TEC, italics our own). This means that jobs like carrying objects (manual handling), working up a ladder, dealing with clients, or driving all carry greater risk when done alone rather than as part of a pairing.
This added risk comes from the simple fact that lone workers, by their nature, have lower levels of supervision and support than ones working with their colleagues. To put it simply, no one is there to check if a lone worker is safe, or to help them if something goes wrong.
To meet health and safety regulations and to keep lone workers safe, employers, unions and safety representatives should be aiming to improve support and supervision for lone workers, and thus mitigate those risks.
What are employers responsibilities to lone workers?
In many ways, employer responsibility towards lone workers is the same as for all employees: they must provide a safe and healthy workplace. This is covered by the 1974 Health and Safety at Work act.
Via the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) however, the government does put out some guidance on how employers should keep their lone workers safe.
Who’s covered by lone worker legislation?
There are certain roles that, as laid out by the HSE, cannot be performed alone and absolutely require at least one other person to be there. These are:
Those working in confined spaces
Workers near exposed live electricity conductors
Diving operations
Those working with vehicles carrying explosives
Those working with fumigation
For all other roles, it is up to the organisation to judge whether they can be performed safely or not. While nearly all jobs are safer when performed as a team, it is understood that is not always possible.
In terms of what types of workers are covered by lone worker legislation, a company has responsibilities to:
Full-time and part-time workers
Self-employed staff members, including “gig-economy” workers
Contract workers
Those who work from home
Volunteers
Risk assessments
Download your own loan working risk assessment template, for free!
Lone working risk assessments
First of all, while it is usually perfectly legal to work alone, the HSE stresses that employers are legally required to assess and handle the risks associated “before people are allowed to do so”. That means that, if you or the employee you represent is being asked to work alone, there should be risk assessments already in place.
There is not necessarily a need for employers to provide separate risk assessments for lone workers, but organisations of a certain size may deem this helpful. Otherwise, these risks may be built into the organisation’s standard risk assessments.
Support, monitoring and provisions for lone workers
The HSE says employers should provide ‘training, supervision, monitoring and support for lone workers’ including ‘adequate and reliable means of communication and a way to call for help’. Where necessary, this may include ‘devices designed to raise the alarm in an emergency which can be operated manually or automatically’.
At the end of this article, we’ll go through how specialist lone working solutions can benefit workers, and what trade unions should look out for when considering lone worker devices or apps.
If you’d like more information on how to protect lone workers when they’re on the job, you can download our free guide to lone working.
Lone worker solutions – what to look out for as a trade union
Some lone workers –for instance administrators working from home– may be assessed as low-risk and not requiring any special provisions.
Those who work in higher risk roles (such as paramedics and nurses, railway workers, utility workers, teachers and care workers handling difficult clients), however, may benefit from a dedicated lone worker solution.
Note: even within perceived low-risk roles, there may be extra factors an employer should consider. For instance, if a worker has a health condiditon that might affect them suddenly during work hours, employers should recognise this.
What are lone worker solutions
As noted throughout this article, the defining risks of lone working are:
A lack of supervision
An inability to call for help in an emergency.
Dedicated lone worker solutions, such as devices or apps, help plug these gaps. In particular, these solutions provide support that even mobile phones and radios cannot.
Lone worker apps
With a specialised lone worker app, a worker can:
Create temporary monitored sessions. These sessions are then shared with the user’s chosen “guardians” in real time and will alert the guardian if the user fails to check in as safe before the task ends.
Trigger an alert at any point via an SOS button.
Provide more detailed safety information. With some apps, a user can add their identification details and even medical info, in case of emergency. These are then shared with the user’s guardians when an alert is sent out.
Monitor and organise workers on the fly. With more advanced solutions, supervising workers can see sessions as they progress, right from their app. This helps supervisors check that their team are keeping safe and haven’t ran into problems.
Sometimes, lone worker apps can work in tandem with wearables and devices that provide additional hands-free functionality.
Apps do not require extra hardware, and most workers already carry a smart phone.
While some users may feel uncomfortable using their own phone, it should be noted that the better lone worker apps allow workers to easily switch location monitoring on and off, and can actually provide good privacy options.
Lone worker devices
All-in one lone worker devices that have in-built SIM cards provide some of the benefits of a lone worker app (emergency alarms, live location sharing) while not being tied to a phone. There are pros and cons to a system like this:
All-in-one devices provide a simple, one-tap panic alarm.
These devices can share live location, much like an app, although usually only when an active alert is running. This makes these sort of alarms better for emergency situations than day-to-day operations.
Unlike apps (which often have limits owing to the phone’s manufacturer), all-in-one devices can instantly open two-way conversations –handy if a worker is unable to physically reach their phone.
These devices aren’t always able to share more detailed information about a user and their situation.
These devices can have a very long battery life, due to their more stripped-back feature list.
Workers may prefer using a tool not linked to their phone.
Alarm Receiving Centres for lone workers
Alarm Receiving Centres (ARCs) monitor and handle alerts. If you’ve ever used a burglar or fire alarm that is connected to a response team, this is done through an ARC.
For lone workers, the teams that employ them and the unions that represent them, ARCs provide 24/7 peace-of-mind. When apps or devices like the above trigger an alarm, these can be handled by an Alarm Receiving Centre –no matter where or when the worker is active.
As well as being available day or night (unlike most supervisors), ARCs provide further benefits to lone worker systems. ARC workers are trained security professionals, and must meet high standards of professionalism.
Perhaps more importantly, accredited ARCs have direct lines through to the emergency services so, if there is a genuine emergency, they can get a quicker response than a typical manager.
Free guide to lone working
Download your free guide to lone working
What lone worker solutions are right for unionised employees?
All workers and roles are different but, if someone performs a higher-risk lone working role, they may benefit from an established lone working solution.
Whether an organisation choses an integrated app or an all-in-one device, and whether they chose to handle alerts internally, or through an ARC, is entirely up to the needs of their users.
As a union worker or representative, it’s important to consider:
Does the worker require real-time monitoring, or merely an SOS button
Does the worker feel more comfortable using their own phone or a secondary device.
What are the privacy implications of each option? Can the app or device’s location services be turned of and on easily, depending on if the worker is on and off the job.
Can the organisation manage the worker’s safety by themselves or do they need an ARC?
Do the suppliers of a lone worker solution have the appropriate accreditations? (The highest, and most up-to-date standard for a lone worker solution is BS:8484 2022, and the highest standard of ARC is a “Cat I” (Category One).
Can the supplier provide details of their escalation process in regards to alerts?
If the union represents a large amount of workers who need protection, ask if the provider has any enterprise discounts.
Example: how Safepoint provides a better lone worker solution for workers and unions
Since 2017, Safepoint has been working with great organisations like the NHS, Michelin, Aldi, Age UK, and various public bodies both large and small. In our time, we’ve been proud to work with a range of unions to provide safe, professional and helpful solutions, that also respect their privacy.
ADT-backed Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC)
Safepoint is the only lone worker brand to be officially partnered with security experts, ADT. Working from their fully accredited, Category 1 ARC, Safepoint’s ADT-powered alarm monitoring team expertly handle alerts 24/7.
If, at any time, a worker triggers an SOS alarm, times out, or takes a fall, an alert will instantly sent out, checked by our team, and handled to the highest standard. If our team feel there is a genuine emergency, they have a dedicated line to the emergency services to provide bespoke and prioritised responses.
Fully accredited
We know how important due dilligence is to unions and their members. With Ssafepoint, you can rest assured that the entire platform meets or exceeds the highest standard of lone working provision, BS 8484:2022. We have even provided lone worker protection for the BSI –the organisation that literally wrote BS 8484!
Beyond this, our ADT-powered Alarm Receiving Centre is accredited to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 and is approved by the National Security Inspectorate, the British Security Industry Association and the Private Security Authority.
Bespoke deals for unions
As well as working for large, union-backed organisations, we offer unique benefits and solutions for union organisations. If you represent or are part of a union and want to access top-of-the-line lone worker protection, get in touch! We can offer:
Exclusive discounts for enterprise and/or multi-year coverage.
Protection for multiple companies under one union.
Official partnerships, including reseller agreements, for unions to pass on to their members.
Demonstrations for representatives and members.
Bespoke seller agreements.
Hassle-free onboarding. If you need to bring on 1,000 users, we can manage that for you!