All businesses with employees who work alone need to take safety seriously.
Keeping lone workers safe is important because they don’t have a colleague or teammate to call on in the event of an accident or emergency.
This leaves them vulnerable in ways other workers simply aren’t.
Keeping lone workers isn’t just morally and legally the right thing to do – it also makes good business sense. After all, employees are one of a company’s most valuable assets.
Below, we take a look at some of the ways lone worker safety is good for business.
Boosts Morale
Lone workers who feel unsafe on the job are unlikely to be the most motivated employees on a company’s payroll.
In fact, if a lone worker feels a business is cutting corners when it comes to safety procedures and equipment, it’s likely to make itself felt in the way the worker goes about his job – and may even mean the worker refuses to undertake certain duties.
A safety-first approach from an employer serves to reassure workers and boosts morale.
This means all employees must be familiarised with the company’s safety protocols, trained with any safety equipment and given a channel to voice concerns about risky work practices.
Cheaper Insurance
In most jurisdictions, businesses both big and small are usually required to carry some sort of liability insurance.
This covers them in case an employee or member of the public has an accident and incurs medical costs for which the company is liable.
In many countries, employer liability is a non-negotiable.
A shoddy approach to lone worker safety will inevitably lead to more frequent insurance claims and therefore higher premiums, which in turn hits the bottom line.
Reduces Staff Churn
A company’s employees are its biggest asset.
The training and skills they receive should be regarded as an investment and staff members an asset.
But a lone worker who feels an employer isn’t taking safety seriously is likely to suffer from mental and physical illness, which can lead to a spike in absenteeism, disrupting business activity and continuity.
Equally, if a lone worker feels a competitor offers a safer working environment, employee churn is likely to increase, disrupting business continuity and increasing recruitment costs.
Boosts Productivity
The reverse of the coin is that a lone worker who feels his company has gone the extra mile in training and providing the right safety equipment is likely to be a highly motivated one.
And productivity needn’t suffer because an employer takes lone worker safety seriously.
True, in the past lone worker safety equipment might have been a burden to a lone worker but today a lone worker alarm can be worn discreetly on a belt loop or carried in a pocket without encumbering the worker.
Conclusion
It’s sometimes tempting for an employer to cut corners when it comes to worker safety.
However, as we have shown, the long-term consequences of such an approach can be damaging to both staff morale and the bottom line.
Done right, lone-worker safety can be both cost-effective and a win-win for both the business and the employee.
