The importance of ‘smart’ employee protection - particularly for those working alone or out of earshot of colleagues

Naz Dossa, CEO at technology safety specialists Peoplesafe, examines the increasingly important role technology has to play in employee protection.

In March 2020, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) updated its lone worker guidance to place more explicit responsibility on businesses for the safety of employees who work without close or direct supervision - including getting to their base or home once work is completed.  Since then, there has been an enormous and unprecedented shift in working practices across all sectors thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

As firms now adapt to permanent flexible and hybrid working as the ‘new normal’, social distancing measures are still a consideration for most and more workers than ever before are finding themselves performing their duties alone or out of earshot.  This has understandably led to increased levels of anxiety - both for employers and employees, when it comes to safety at work.

Peoplesafe recently surveyed over 120 health and safety professionals to determine the role technology has to play in keeping workers safe from harm and found that COVID-19 has created a rise in employee safety requirements for more than three quarters of businesses (77%), accelerating technology adoption and making personal safety and mental wellbeing a primary concern. 

In fact, 71% of those questioned plan to invest in lone worker technology and ‘smart PPE’ within the next one to three years.  

What is ‘Smart PPE’?

Also known as PPET (Personal Protective Equipment and Technology), Smart PPE is the combination of traditional means of protection (gloves, masks, ear defenders, high vis etc) with enhanced materials or electronic components which will not only raise an alarm or record an incident but can also collect data on the user, the work environment or its own use.

Body-worn cameras for instance, have been used by police in the UK since 2005 and are now considered a standard piece of equipment.  Since their introduction, complaints against officers and assaults on their person have reduced dramatically - they are also a useful deterrent, encouraging people to think twice before carrying out threatening behaviour or behaving abusively. 

There is a large range of other technologically advanced safety equipment available for employees, from panic alarms, key fobs with drop technology and discreet lanyards with two-way audio to integrated apps that can be used with mobile phones to provide users with high-tech features such as fall detection, GPS locator and welfare checks.

How is Smart PPE used in construction?

Whether an employee is using heavy machinery, climbing scaffolding, carrying out electric installations, working alone in bad weather or dealing with the general public, we know that employment in the construction industry carries plenty of hazards.

Devices such as an ID badge with discreet two-way audio communication, fall detection, GPS location and a dedicated SOS alarm provides a layer of reassurance for both employee and employer as well as being there should something happen.

Another popular solution is a lone worker smartphone app, which transforms a smartphone or tablet into a personal safety device with similar features (fall detection, SOS alarm and GPS location) but without the need for extra hardware.  This also provides a layer of security that starts with someone’s journey to work and ends once they are safely home again. 

Peoplesafe’s Alarm Receiving Centre is a hub where someone is available 24/7, 365 days a year to receive and deal with personal safety alarm activations whether they are false or planned activations or genuine incidents.  Using a company that is accredited to the highest lone worker standard (BS 8484:2016) also gives priority access to the emergency services - meaning a faster response to an incident, whether it’s a medical requirement or something for the police.   

The future for employee protection

78% of respondents in the study confirmed a wish to recategorise lone worker protection as PPE as a means of improving safety standards - in fact, it is not really a surprise that the research predicts a natural evolution of PPE to PPET: Personal Protective Equipment and Technology.  

There seems to be a general consensus that we - understandably - have a more risk averse workforce right now and there is therefore a greater need for enhanced protection and reassurance.  It is probably too soon to tell whether the workplace response to the COVID-19 pandemic will sustain but the accelerated use of technology and continued innovation in this field certainly show no signs of slowing.

As working practices adjust, PPE is undoubtedly becoming a far broader category as businesses look at ways to help prevent, manage and respond to risks faced by a more remote workforce.