Traditional vs Automated Work Alone Solutions
Many organizations implement safety monitoring systems for employees working alone. Unfortunately, the vast majority of systems may not be compliant with legislation and can be a wasteful drain on resources. In this article, we're looking at the differences between traditional and automated work-alone monitoring systems.
Traditional work alone solutions
Traditional systems for work-alone solutions and monitoring have failed to leverage technological advances. These include physical or phone check-ins from worker to supervisor or phone check-ins to a call center. These work-alone solutions are time and labor, and compliance for work-alone legislation can be neglected. Systems that require calls at specific times and manual recording of check-ins are difficult to manage. The inefficiency of traditional systems often results in the accidental discovery of incidents rather than proactive management.
Automated work-alone solutions
Automated, cloud-based monitoring is emerging as a new best practice in work-alone safety and work-alone solutions. These systems can be integrated with a variety of devices in order to provide instant protection of workers in the field. These systems leverage the latest advances in technology to:
Automatically prompt workers to check-in and record voice messages
Avoid the use of costly call centers and cumbersome manual processes
Keep a record of all check-ins, even across a large fleet of employees
Proactively send alerts to supervisors when check-ins are missed
Send alerts to a list of emergency contacts when a worker needs help
Provide supervisors with real-time GPS locations and work history during emergencies
The benefits of automated work alone systems
The benefits of an automated work-alone solution are many. They save time and money, improve insurance costs, and improve emergency outcomes. Automated systems can also be scaled so that new employees can be easily added when your business grows. Not being tethered to hardware also provides flexibility so that you don't have to invest in new devices every few years.
Cloud-based solutions like SafetyLine Lone Worker provide the most scalability, flexibility, and support in automated work-alone systems. Automated, cloud-based solutions like SafetyLine are easy to implement, making them an ideal successor to traditional methods. They also provide the greatest compatibility with existing hardware and allow access to critical information from any location. They are designed for rapid adoption by supervisors and employees and can quickly reduce the burden of monitoring.
Reduction in human error
While employees can be sufficiently trained in traditional or manual check-ins, there is still that chance for human error, which can be caused by a number of common factors such as stress, workload, or simple absentmindedness. An automated work-alone solution almost entirely eliminates the possibility of human error by leveraging dependable technologies and devices being used by employees. An automated work-alone solution can not only prevent injuries and fatalities, but it will save organizations valuable time and budget spent on paying a monitor to watch lone workers and the regular training required for such a program.
And on top of these benefits, automated work-alone solutions will simplify the worker safety program with the ability to monitor a large number of lone and remote workers at once. Again, this has huge cost savings and eliminates the need for employees to spend work hours on employee monitoring when it could be spent on more priority tasks.
Extra worker protection
But it isn’t only features such as automated check-ins and GPS location tracking which systems like SafetyLine can provide to help protect lone workers. Automated work-alone systems can also provide several other life-saving technologies such as fall detection and panic buttons. Systems like SafetyLine can provide a comprehensive suite of lone worker protection features that can mitigate various emergencies like electrocution, falls, and violent assaults.
Automated work alone systems address the big picture
Work alone solutions like SafetyLine help address the big picture of lone worker safety, solving several pain points in one, user-friendly and dependable app. While manual check-in and lone worker safety programs may seem more cost-friendly initially, the overall savings, ROI, and peace of mind of an automated system are compelling arguments for the small fee these apps charge per month.