risks & hazards of working alone
Lone workers are ubiquitous. Whether they’re self-employed, contractors, or full time-employees, they take on an increased risk to fulfill difficult roles within industries across the globe, including Australia and New Zealand.
Current law requires companies to carefully consider the health and safety risks posed to workers that work alone. In 2015, for example, New Zealand passed major Health & Safety regulation reform, bringing the country in line with other countries like the UK, where it’s estimated there are some 8 million lone workers.
These laws require due diligence on the part of directors and other officers to ensure they are compliant with all relevant regulations, including carrying out risk assessments, providing lone workers with adequate education and training, and equipping them with the right tools and equipment to carry out their work, safely.
In order to do this, companies require the ability to quickly and easily identify the risks posed to their lone working force, the kind of threats they face, and from here develop a strategy that will keep workers safe from hazards (physical elements that could cause harm) and risks (the likeliness of someone being harmed by one of these hazards).
5 Most Common Risks Faced By Lone Workers
Verbal and physical abuse from members of the public
Injury arising as a result of the work being carried out
Delays in treating or responding to these emergencies which arise due to a lack of immediate access to first aid or assistance
Inadequate monitoring of rest, personal hygiene and general welfare facilities to ensure the basic health of workers
Manual handling incidents
Create a Culture of Safety to prevent Risks of Working Alone
When you take care of your people, your people will take care of you. How can you tell if your company operates with a strong safety culture? Ask the following questions, each of which is a key indicator of strong safety culture:
Does your company’s leadership provide a strong influence and direction for your safety culture?
Are employees involved in the process? Are they engaged, supportive and invested in the company’s safety program?
Does your company embrace a culture of continuous improvement that regularly takes a critical look and evaluates how safety can be improved further?
Do you have a culture of accountability where staff look out for each other and hold each other accountable to keep everyone safe?
Do you share best practices? Does your organisation recognize that safety is not a competitive advantage but something we must work towards together?
And finally, is a safety focus ingrained in all departments in the company?
When an organisation can answer these questions affirmatively, they have a robust and comprehensive safety program that truly prioritizes the health and safety of employees. Check out Blackline Safety’s interview with Dr David Michael’s for a great message between operational excellence and safety.