WHY PANIC BUTTONS MAKE SENSE FOR YOUR LONE WORKERS

People need other people. However, people can’t always be physically present for each other in every situation.

Lone worker safety should be one of your top priorities if the nature of your business requires people to work in circumstances where no one else can see if they get hurt. And you especially don’t want to wait for an incident to occur before addressing lone worker safety. The more risk of harm or injury that is involved in the nature of your work, the more proactive you will need to be to mitigate those risks.

However, even for the safest tasks, someone could drop from a heart attack at any time. No matter what kind of emergency your lone workers could find themselves in, you want there to be a good way to be made aware of the fact and respond appropriately as soon as possible.

In any situation where a worker performs his or her job duties in isolation or away from other people, you should have a company safety policy. This is not only a good idea; it is mandated by US federal regulations. OSHA requires employers to protect the safety of employees during working hours, whether or not those employees have job duties that isolate them from other people. However, periodic check-ins may not be enough, especially in situations where a long time may pass between check-ins.

Panic buttons are a great solution for lone workers for many reasons. Here are just a few.

1. In an emergency situation, the lone worker is able to summon help immediately rather than waiting for the next check-in. In a situation where the emergency happens immediately after the check-in, this can make a difference between life and death.
2. The lone worker can summon help to their exact location with the press of a button rather than having to describe their location to security personnel or first responders. This can be vital in an event where the lone worker is unable to communicate verbally.
3. In workplace situations that present a special risk to the worker, the presence of a panic button can not only help to mitigate that worker’s risk, it can also help to increase employee morale and peace of mind and reduce turnover.
4. If there is any chance that the lone worker could be in danger of assault, harassment, or harm by a customer, unauthorized intruder, or other hostile party, the panic button can be a good way to protect that worker by giving them a silent way to summon help.
5. In any case where there is a language barrier between workers, the panic button is a perfect way to allow anyone with the mobile pendant to summon help to their exact location without any confusion or doubt about where they are.

The more risk a job poses to the lone worker, the more sense it makes to give that worker something better than just a periodic check-in. You can get exactly that with the mobile panic button technology from Securalert. Our hybrid radiofrequency and ultrasonic technology gives you a solution that doesn’t depend on wifi networks that could crowd out the signal during high-traffic times of day.

Check out our technology and request your quote today.