Lone worker protection for charity workers
There are 160,000 charities in the UK which provide paid work for 760,000 employees plus many more volunteers.
Much of today’s charity work has an element of lone working whilst carrying out their duties, the majority of this time is spent with the general public or people in need. Working with vulnerable and potentially volatile people on a day-to-day basis, or working in unknown and different locations collecting monies or delivering goods or transporting people can pose an element of risk to the lone worker and they need to have the adequate level of protection in order to carry out their duties, whether that be as an employee or as a volunteer; a lone walker alarm can help protect your staff.
Therefore, many charities implement a buddy or a sealed envelope system to try and solve their lone working issues. However, buddy systems can always be subject to human error, which will leave the lone worker at risk and the charity liable. Furthermore, this solution is not cost effective (read our return on investment article here) LONEALERT is designed to allow charities to easily monitor the status and location of their staff and volunteers in a streamlined and efficient way.
The LONEALERT O.W.L is designed to allow management to easily monitor the status and location of their staff. Knowing they have arrived home or logged off at the end of their working day will give you peace of mind. The O.W.L also allows you to be able to set up a personalised or charity wide escalation procedures that will come into effect as soon as an alert is raised.
Our risk assessment
To carry out a risk assessment you need to think about what might cause harm to your employees and decide whether you are taking the reasonable steps needed to prevent any harm.
A risk assessment is something you are required to carry out by law. We have teamed up with lone working specialist trainer Jackie Dolan and created a comprehensive risk assessment for people working within a charity.
LONEALERT Solutions for working in a charity:
As with all sectors the level of risk depends on the employee’s / volunteers job role - which can differ drastically. Looking after multiple staff while carrying out home visits, or being on the front line can be a difficult task. We have a variety of solutions that will help you, all of which are controlled by The O.W.L, so you can mix and match solutions to suit your needs. The O.W.L allows you to set up personalised or companywide escalation procedures that will come into effect as soon as an alarm is raised.
LONEALERT Access:
What is it?
Accessed via The O.W.L, landline, mobile phone or smartphone, LONEALERT Access is a simple, cost effective solution to benefit lower risk roles within this sector.
How it can work?
An outreach counsellor or therapist visits people within their own homes, for fixed appointments of 60 minutes each – with typically 5 calls a day. They also live alone. Before leaving home, they use their mobile phone to log into LONEALERT, with expected journey to first appointment, and location. When they arrive, they send a new message with the case reference and expected duration. Once finished, they update The O.W.L with expected journey time to their next appointment. On the process goes, until they safely arrive home when they can either log off, or extend timer until they are due to leave for work the next day. If at any point they don’t check in or out, and don’t respond to check calls, they alarm is raised. Using Access like this gives peace of mind that should anything happen to the employee at any time, help will be notified.
LONEALERT Instant:
What is it?
The Instant solution includes all products within the LONEALERT Access range, and adds access via a range of dedicated devices. GPS equipped with fall detection, panic and one button timer creation.
How it can work?
Marc is out on the campaign trail, knocking doors and in public locations. Marc has advised colleagues of his round, but it’s difficult to know how far along he will be, as each ‘sale’ can take a different length of time. The GPS in LONEALERT Instant lets supervisors, via the O.W.L check progress. If a discrete alarm is raised, help can also be sent to Marc’s exact location.
LONEALERT Plus:
What is it?
Plus includes LONEALERT Access, and all the safety features of Instant, but adds high durability, IP67 rated devices, with LCD screen for improved user feedback and advanced notifications, with Bolt-Ons for indoor locating workers.
How it can work?
A conflict resolution arbitrator is working with a separating couple in a meeting room. The situation is tense. If it overflows, the worker can press their SOS button Bolt-on to the Plus range. This wrist worn panic alarm is discrete and connects to the Plus unit situated outside the door. This signals to The O.W.L that help is needed, and the alarm is raised.
LONEALERT Anywhere:
What is it?
Including all products within the LONEALERT Access range, the Anywhere solutions is great for those who work in outdoor areas with very limited mobile signal.
How it can work?
Working in an area with poor mobile signal can be challenging. Anywhere devices can be provided to staff, so even without mobile signal they can log-in and out of LONEALERT with GPS locations and raised a panic alarm if needed.
