The rise of lone working

CHANCES ARE, you have lone workers in some shape or form within your organisation. 

It's estimated that around 20% of the working population are lone workers - with around 8 million of these estimated to be working alone in the UK. In fact, this rise is being seen on a global scale, with the connected-worker market expected to increase at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.5% between now and 2031.

Prior to 2020, lone working had been steadily growing in popularity thanks to advances in technology making it possible for staff to work remotely with ease, but the pandemic accelerated the adoption of lone working.  Now you’re likely to find lone workers in almost every industry, from local authorities to construction, healthcare to engineering, and charities to utilities. 

Earlier this year, we began working on an updated version of the Lone Worker Landscape Report, which was published for the first time in 2021. The surveys went out last month, and we are just beginning to analyse the data.

What is clear so far is that as the number of lone workers increases, the issue of lone worker safety is rising up the agenda in businesses, too. Organisations expect the number of lone workers to increase over the next few years, and as such they see lone worker safety as a higher priority than ever before. 

This is great news for those millions of lone workers, who need their safety needs considered separately from their supervised colleagues. It’s not that lone working is always riskier – although in some cases it can be – but that if someone has an accident, or finds themselves in a threatening situation, there isn’t anyone else there to raise the alarm. 

In an emergency, the speed at which you can get help can make all the difference between a minor incident, and a tragedy.

The UK’s 5 million ‘hidden’ lone workers 

Some lone workers are easy to identify, such as a security guard patrolling a building at night, or a community worker visiting a client alone. But for many roles, lone working doesn't always mean completely alone.  

Based on our findings, there could be as many as 5 million 'hidden' lone workers in the UK.

Nine out of ten respondents who took part in the original Lone Worker Landscape Report stated that they worked away from colleagues for three or more days per week, and yet, more than half of those don’t see themselves as a ‘lone worker’.

If staff don't see themselves as lone workers, they may not take their safety or vulnerability as seriously as they should. And if you don't see them as lone workers, you may not be giving them the protection they need. 

Lone workers can be more vulnerable to harm than supervised staff because any risks are faced alone. With no one to raise the alarm in an emergency, lone workers can struggle to get the help they need, or worse; get no help at all. 

They can also be seen as an easy target for violence and aggression, especially those who work in public-facing roles, or those who visit clients alone. 

When identifying lone workers in your organisation, it is important to consider ‘hidden lone workers’ in situations which may be overlooked, such as those working on the same site but out of sight and sound of a colleague, staff working alone in different parts of a building or those travelling alone after work hours. The HSE also defines home workers as lone workers – so you’ll need to consider them in your risk assessments too. 

Lone worker risks 

Research shows that 64% organisations have had an incident involving a lone worker in the past 3 years. Worryingly, both health and safety professionals and lone workers themselves feel that these risks are increasing. According to our research, some of the top risks include working in areas with low signal, environmental risk and slips trips and falls. 

Our new survey also indicates stress and metal health are now considered a top risk for lone workers too – reported by the lone workers themselves.  This is an interesting topic, because it raises the question of how we must not only consider the physical risks to lone workers, but how being alone impacts mental health and wellbeing, and what can be done to ensure remote workers feel ‘seen’ and protected.  

Violence against lone workers is increasing

One reason that stress is increasing amongst lone workers could be that the risk profile is changing. A concerning trend emerging from our new research is that the number of lone worker incidents involving violence, aggression or abuse are rising, with more lone workers regularly feeling unsafe whilst at work. This trend fits with a wider pattern of increased violence against workers that we have seen across many industries since the pandemic, including retail and healthcare, which have both reported at least a 40% increase in violence and abusive incidents against their staff in recent years. 

Protective measures 

So, what can be done to ensure that lone workers are protected? 

When it comes to protecting lone workers, many businesses are leaving manual check-in calls and simple panic buttons behind. 

According to the latest research report from Berg Insight, the number of lone workers using connected safety solutions in Europe is expected to reach 1.4 million by 2025. Connected safety solutions like StaySafe, EcoOnline's Lone Worker Solution, utilise the latest mobile and GPS technology to provide an easier and more reliable way to keep lone workers safe. 

Again, this is something we’re seeing, both in our research and in our own experience talking with businesses about their safety needs. Our research is indicating that the majority of organisations are looking to increase their spend on lone worker safety in the coming years, with many looking to move away from manual systems – like check in calls or buddy systems - to a lone worker app or device. 

Connected Safety Solutions

Relying on buddy systems, diaries and manual check-in calls to ensure that lone workers are safe can be unreliable. Whilst having a manual system is better than having nothing at all, these types of safety measures can be flawed – primarily because they put the onus on the employee to remember to update their diary and make a check-in call. In reality, people are busy, appointments change, and calls get forgotten.

Manual systems can also be flawed from an administrative perspective. They require an extremely robust set of procedures to be followed at a team level; for example, who monitors that diaries are updated? Who records that check-in calls are made? Is there a dedicated person who is responsible for these tasks? Do buddies take their role seriously – or would they assume their colleague was just busy if they didn’t call when expected?

This is where technology can help. The UK is the largest market for lone worker solutions – accounting for more than half of the European market. 

Specialist lone worker solutions provide a more robust way to protect staff because they have the functionality and surrounding service to ensure that employees are always protected. Moreover – you can actually check that employees are using them when they are supposed to be.

Lone worker solutions give visibility of employee locations in real-time, as well as giving staff the ability to call immediately for help in an emergency. Many also have check-in functionality, which, if missed, alerts a monitor to the situation so that it can be escalated.

Some solutions on the market can also be linked to professional monitoring partners who take care of monitoring staff locations and responding to alerts – removing the burden of ensuring staff safety away from internal teams and colleagues and into the hands of trained specialists.

Prioritise and modernise 

Richard Bedworth, VP Channel and Alliances at EcoOnline believes that as the number of lone workers increases, businesses must prioritise – and modernise – their approach to lone worker safety. 

“It really is time that all businesses have safety measures in place for lone workers and implement these as a priority – not only for their safety and security, but also for their overall wellbeing, explains Richard. 

After all, the importance of formal policies and procedures cannot be underestimated. Not only do they give peace of mind for the employer that their workers are safe and reduce the risk of injury, but they have also been proven to reduce workplace absences, improve productivity and increase staff morale and employee retention.”

If you’d like to learn more about lone worker management and safety, The Lone Worker Landscape Report 2024 will be published in full in September. You can download a free copy of the current report here.

Helen Down is content specialist at EcoOnline Global. For more information, visit www.ecoonline.com