The state of play
December 1st 2004 For what now seems like an eternity ‘legislation’ regarding lone worker protection has been ‘on the horizon.’ With the announcement of the Corporate Killing Bill last month, which again offered no specifics, Ian Clay looked deeper at this complex issue.
There are two main pieces of legislation that apply to lone working, The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 and The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Although there is no general legal prohibition on working alone, the broad duties of the HSW Act and the MHSW Regulations still apply. These require identifying hazards of the work, assessing the risks involved, and putting measures in place to avoid or control the risks. Lone workers should not be at more risk than other employees and this may require extra risk control measures.
With this very general advice and the fact that the number of lone workers has developed to the stage where more than 7.5million have been identified, there is a need for clear guidance and information. This help may come from The Lone Worker Steering Group, whose Chairman, Patrick Dealtry has labelled the £600 million industry that has grown up around the problem “A bit of a free for all.” The Steering Group was formed four years ago and having analysed the market aims to set the standards for the protection of Lone Workers in the UK. The Group includes representation from the HSE, NHS, Police Scientific and The Suzy Lamplugh Trust.
They hope to launch a website in the near future but at this point in time identify The Suzy Lamplugh Trust as an excellent source of information and training.
Patrick’s take on the Corporate Killing Bill reflects the scepticism of others with his concerns about individual liability and crown immunity. However, he does believe that “It will focus a few minds if there is the chance for the whole management team to be sent to jail for ten years... This Bill might get health and safety into the boardroom which is where it has got to be.” It is Patrick’s hope that in the new market of lone worker protection the Steering Group will help those charged with health and safety responsibility to influence their directors. “We want to give them the ammunition to do their job” he says.
This £600 million of potential revenue has bought plenty of interested companies into the lone worker protection industry, especially into the area of communications. It is easy to see if you look at back issues of HSM that the number of vendors in this field has increased rapidly, all offering superficially similar solutions.
One company that has just broken ground, after a long period of product testing and development is Tracalert that has just launched its Pocket Loc8 product.
The product has the accuracy of GPS and the convenience of a mobile phone or PDA. The solution involves no manual programming by the user and comprises a voice satellite navigation facility. Tracalert knows exactly who an individual is and precisely where they are and can alert the individual’s employer, or the emergency services as appropriate.
As impressive as the technology is, upon meeting Tracalert chief executive, David Hentsell it was the overall package supporting and surrounding the technology that was most impressive. From its formation and funding to its existing users (DVLA, NHS, The National Probation Service for England and Wales etc.) and also its partners: Orange, O2, Tom-Tom, Garmin.
This blue chip, best of breed approach is exampled in the company’s monitoring centre. David is at pains to point out the difference between Tracalert’s “High security emergency response centre and a mere call centre – a call centre is somewhere you go to find a plumber.” The Eurowatch facility, based in a secure bunker somewhere near Plymouth has a direct line through to the emergency services and is manned by experienced operators. Another advantage is that this system is Pan European and if anything should happen to the UK centre then there is redundancy built into the system so that Norway takes over, followed by Holland etc and all response can be activated locally.
As well as the supporting services there are technical advancements to the Tracalert system. The mobile device used by the lone worker contains their details. It can forward strong intelligence to the emergency services by not only including location mapping but also picture mapping. This feature can be of great assistance in a high rise building for example. “With this system” says David Hentsell “people can see where you are and know where you are.” Also, in the case of disaster management the application can manage up to 10 000 people, delivering text messages and showing meeting points via lat/long coordinates and sat nav mapping. “Getting people to the right place so they are not adding to the confusion” summarises David.
With the management information potential of the system, there is always the chance that personnel will take a luddite, ‘big brother’ type dislike to the equipment. However, David counters this swiftly by adding that “We empower the user, as the system can simply be turned on and off.” Patrick Dealtry is keen that The Lone Worker Steering Group not be in a position where it is seen to be recommending products. However, he did say of Tracalert that “It had taken a very professional approach and the monitoring side of the solution is excellent. I’m delighted to see” he continued “that the company is ready and able to ensure the necessary protection and reassurance is made available to lone workers everywhere.” To contact Patrick Dealtry, chairman of The Lone Worker Steering Group e-mail: patrick@pdconsultancy.co.uk.
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust can be contacted on: 0208 8760305 or visit www.suzylamplughtrust.net For Tracalert use the reader enquiry number below or see the panel (far left) for more details | 
