How to choose the right lone worker alarm for your employees

Find out how to choose the right lone worker alarm for your lone working employees here. 

Lone worker alarms give those lone working a way to immediately raise an SOS alarm in the event of an emergency. They form just part of a lone worker solution; a dedicated, robust, safe system of work - keeping people working alone safe and providing peace of mind and reassurance to managers, lone workers and their families.

But with so many different lone worker alarms, devices and apps on the market, how do you choose which is most suitable for your organisation? Here we outline the steps to take to help you select the best lone worker alarm for your lone workers:

1. Conduct a thorough risk assessment

You cannot select a lone worker device without first identifying the specific risks your lone workers face. To identify these risks you should conduct a thorough risk assessment. This involves thinking about each individual lone worker, what their job role entails, the tasks they undertake and the potential risks involved in their work.

Being aware of these specific risks will help you to better understand the requirements of your lone workers and therefore narrow down your choices. For example; if your lone workers' work at height you will identify in your risk assessment that they are at risk of falling. From this you will know that you need to select a lone worker alarm which has automatic fall detection. 

2. Create or update your lone worker policy

Once you have finished your risk assessment we recommend that you create (or update) your lone worker policy. This is essential for effectively managing the safety and wellbeing of your lone workers. Having a lone worker policy provides guidance for you and your employees on lone working and clarifies roles, responsibilities and procedures. It should also address the protocols to be followed in an emergency. 

It is also helpful to have a lone worker policy as this provides a useful framework for selecting the most appropriate lone worker device. It helps you to align the policy requirements with the features and functionality of your device. For example; if you employee lone working delivery drivers you will likely identify in your policy that they need something to protect them from violence & abuse and should they suffer from a slip, trip or fall. You will therefore know from this that you need a lone worker alarm that has a discreet SOS button, a timer session function for added protection and automatic fall detection. 

If you don't have a lone worker policy, we can help. Simply download our lone worker policy guide here:

3. Consider WHERE your lone workers work

When choosing the right device for your lone workers you need to think about where they work and what the mobile phone signal is like in their workplace (or likely to be like in the areas where they work). Ask yourself; 

• In what locations do your lone workers work?
• Are they moving between locations?
• Do they work indoors or outdoors?
• Do they work in a built-up area or do they frequently travel to remote places?
• Do they work in areas of good or poor mobile phone signal?
• If working indoors, are there indoor blackspots or areas of poor mobile phone signal?

For example; For lone workers that work in a manufacturing site indoors where there are signal blackspots, a lone worker alarm that has WIFI capabilities and/or Bluetooth connectivity is essential. This mitigates any mobile phone connectivity issues and can be used in conjunction with Bluetooth beacons for accurate indoor locating of lone workers. 

For example; a lone working farmer working in remote areas may not get reliable mobile phone signal. In this case, a lone worker device with satellite connectivity would be most suitable. 

4. Consider how your lone workers will wear a lone worker device

When looking for a lone worker solution it's important to think about how your lone workers will wear their lone worker alarm. You will need to ensure that they wear their lone worker device in a way that will;

• not disrupt or get in the way of their day-to-day tasks. For example, safety watches or lone worker alarms worn on the wrist are a good option for industries or jobs roles where other PPE prevents wearing a device clipped to a belt or pocket or being worn with a lanyard. 
• be easily accessible, should they need to raise a panic alarm manually. 
• not cause any other safety issues. For example, those operating machinery should not wear a lone worker device with a lanyard as this could get caught in a machine. 

5. Consider how long your lone workers' shifts are

Another thing you need to consider when selecting a lone worker solution is how long your lone workers typically work for in one given shift. This is because you need to ensure that the device you choose has enough battery life to last for at least the full duration of a lone workers' shift before it needs charging again. 

It's also worth considering whether you want lone workers to be able to share devices. There are many instances where this cannot happen, however where employees work at the same site and there are different shift patterns sharing devices can work. If this is something that would work in your organisation you must ensure that the battery life of your lone worker alarms will last long enough to cover each shift or there will be enough time to charge devices between shifts. 

6. Consider how your lone workers need alarms to be raised

You may have already thought about this, when you identified the hazards your lone workers face, but if you haven't it's worth evaluating the different ways in which lone worker alarms can raise alarms;

• manually by pressing an SOS panic button
• automatically through fall detection
• automatically after a period of no movement 
• automatically after a period of time tilted above a predefined angle 
• automatically when a lanyard cord is ripped from a device 
• automatically if a lone worker session timer is not responded to 

All lone worker alarms have a manual way to raise an alarm but automatic alarms can also provide life saving protection in the event of a fall, injury, altercation or medical emergency where a lone worker is unable to raise a panic alarm themselves. 

For example; a mechanic lying flat underneath a car would need a lone worker device which includes the function to raise an alarm automatically after a period of no motion. 

7. Don't forget that lone worker devices are only part of a lone worker solution 

When choosing a lone worker device it's important to remember that this is only part of the safety solution you require. A lone worker solution is usually a combination of a lone worker device or app, a management system, aftercare support and in some cases, an alarm receiving centre (ARC). Without one or another the solution is unlikely to be comprehensive enough to support the needs of you and your lone workers. 

So, when selecting the best lone worker alarm for your lone workers you also need to consider the full solution package too. To help with this, as well as implementing your lone worker solution across your organisation, download our lone worker checklist. This takes you through the 5 essential steps to choosing and implementing a lone worker solution.

In summary, when choosing the best lone worker alarm for your lone workers we urge you not to rush your decision. It's important to consider all of the steps mentioned as this will not only help to create a shortlist of suitable devices but will also ensure that you and your lone workers have complete confidence in the device that you choose.

Where possible we always advise booking a demo or trialing the lone worker alarms on your shortlist to check that they are 100% right for your lone workers before you purchase.

Here at LONEALERT we have a wide range of lone worker alarms which cover many different risks and needs - from those needing a simple, discreet personal alarm to much more complex lone worker devices, ATEX rated devices and even devices with satellite connectivity for those working in remote areas.