There are many workers in the UK that are now classified as mobile or lone workers since much of their day to day work involves them working outside of the centralised office environment. It may be that they are a night time security guard or that they work for the social services and are frequently out of the office on home visits. Whatever their job title mobile workers often find themselves in unusual situations, but like office based workers their employers must ensure that they are protected and kept safe whilst on the road.
It is a general legal duty of employers under Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act to maintain safe working arrangements for all their employees whether mobile or office based. In order to comply with this rule Section 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations requires that employers must also carry out full risk assessments of the hazards to which their employees are exposed. For mobile workers these risks or hazards could include violent encounters from the general public, sudden illness or road traffic accidents.
As a result of this modern businesses now have strict rules and regulations for mobile workers and have detailed risk assessment documents that identify the possible risks and outline the measures they have put in place to help prevent these risks from occurring. In accordance with risk assessment laws, employers should consider in their assessment whether or not a single person can do the work safely and what arrangements are required to ensure the lone worker is at no more risk than employees working together.
For many employers and business owners these laws alongside the Duty of Care Legislation, which was introduced in 1991, have led to an increased awareness about their workers safety. Employers have had to respond to this legislation by introducing new methods of achieving these levels of safely.
As these laws and regulations have developed so to have the technologies and equipment used to help keep lone workers safe. Personal Digital Assistants are one such technology and have quickly become the mobile device of choice for many organisations. PDA’s enable business owners to get critical information to their mobile employees quickly and in real time, something that has proven to be indispensable in the modern business world.
A PDA device also enables business owners and managers to answer some of the many questions they must take into consideration when evaluating mobile worker risk. For example, when considering remote working it may be necessary to establish guidelines as to when the lone worker should check in with their managers or supervisors or track their movements in order to ensure their safety.
With PDA’s being readily available and carried by many mobile workers, innovative software solutions are now being utilised in order to keep track of these workers whereabouts at all times. As long as the PDA is switched on, tracking systems are able to pinpoint their exact location via a mapping system. A discreet panic button can be added should any member of your workforce need it. These panic buttons have the facility to be mounted in different locations for instance in a vehicle in order top make them as versatile as possible.
PDA tracking systems have a number of benefits making it a wise choice when thinking about safeguarding your mobile workers. The tracking software is able to be used with any Windows mobile device such as a PDA. Combine this with its covert possibilities, optional lone worker application, and access to Internet mapping amongst others, makes it a powerful tool for any business with mobile workers.
Even if your company does not have its own PDA’s, the tracking system provider can supply these. In short, the benefits of tracking systems and PDA tracking software are so great and diverse that it is an effective method of tracking and safeguarding workers against harm or unforeseen circumstances. Want to find out more about how tracking systems can help your company? Visit www.supatrak.com today.
About the Author:
Phil Young
Article Source: http://www.upublish.info
Is PDA Tracking the Solution to Keeping Mobile Workers Safe?
