These allow users to opt-in to sharing their location, and can automatically detect if the user is nonresponsive. Monitored, timed tasks: a common feature with lone worker apps is allowing users to create timed and monitored ‘tasks’. No upfront cost: If a lone worker already has a smartphone and a SIM card, they already have all the hardware they need –the only cost is a subscription fee.Īutomatic alerts: with a lone worker app like Safepoint, alerts are created in a number of ways: manually, by pressing the button, or automatically through failing to check-in as safe. Lone worker apps give users the ability to manually request emergency help and to set up automatic alerts and check-in functionality.

Again, if simplicity is what you are going for, this may be preferable, but it’s good to understand the differences. Lack of connection and customisation: most isolated devices won’t connect with a phone so you can’t expand the functionality. No WIFI: usually these devices will not have WIFI connectivity, meaning that they may be less accurate or effective inside buildings (compared to app-based solutions).

This is not necessarily a con in itself but it is worth noting when comparing it with an app-based solution. Needs mobile network: standalone devices often have a SIM card built into them, and so will work in much the same way as a mobile phone. Lack of automatic alerts: usually, standalone lone working devices will not know whether a user is nonresponsive –meaning that there is no way of ‘checking in’, and no ‘timeout’ based alarms. This may all be rolled into one monthly cost, but these are all costs that have to be included somewhere. Check how bulky a device is, and whether it works for how your team want to use it.ĭiscreet: whilst some standalone devices are more obvious than others, pressing a button on a keychain can potentially be more discreet than a phone.Įxtra cost: with standalone devices, you must pay for the device itself, the SIM charges and any fees to the lone worker service provider. Wearable: often these devices can be worn around the neck, or attached to keys.

Simple: standalone devices are usually very simple, and thus easy to understand for less tech-savvy staff. Standalone: standalone devices don’t require the use of a phone or any other third party hardware. Robust: standalone devices are often made of plastic, with few delicate parts. If the user taps the panic alarm button, an alert is sent to the worker’s assigned guardian, who can track the GPS coordinates to orchestrate an emergency response. Standalone lone worker devices often come in the form of a GPS panic alarm that works with the mobile network. Part of this support should include providing ‘adequate and reliable means of communication and a way to call for help’ and, where necessary, may include ‘devices designed to raise the alarm in an emergency which can be operated manually or automatically’. This is where lone working solutions come in. The UK government states that all employers should ‘provide training, supervision, monitoring and support for lone workers’. What is the legislation around lone workers and lone worker solutions? If you’re new to lone working, you can get up to scratch in our complete guide to lone working. Working alone is clearly very common, but it can be detrimental to physical and mental wellbeing and, as such, is protected by UK health and safety legislation. Lone working is, according to the NHS, ‘any situation in which someone works without a colleague nearby or when someone is working out of sight or earshot of another colleague’. At least 1/5 of the UK working population are classified as lone workers.

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