How do you protect workers who work alone? One part of the answer is to assess the risks they face when they perform jobs in isolation and establish safe work procedures. But that's not all you can or should do. You should also teach workers how to assess hazards themselves. Here's one way to do that.

The Hazards of Working Alone

By working alone I mean performing a job in isolation without the prospect of being able to receive immediate help in case of injury, illness or threat. Needless to say, working alone is extremely dangerous and even life-threatening. Imagine that you're alone at work and you:

• Are suddenly overcome by an odorless and invisible gas;
• Fall from a scaffold; or
• Are threatened by an assailant.

In a worst case scenario, no one knows that you're working alone and hours can go by before:

• You're reported missing;
• The next shift comes on duty; or
• You're found dead.

A Personal Example

In my job I have to meet new clients in remote places. On my way there, I often wonder what I will do if I get lost or get a flat tire and somebody approaches to help me. Let's look at some potential hazards in this scenario:

Situation: I'm female.
Hazard: I'm at a greater personal security risk.

Situation: I'm unfamiliar with the route and the destination.
Hazard: I could get lost.

Situation: I don't know the client I am meeting.
Hazard: Meeting a stranger poses a personal security risk.

Situation: I'm depending on my vehicle.
Hazard: I might experience engine trouble or a flat tire.

Situation: My cell phone is my sole source of communication.
Hazard: The battery could die or I could be out of cell phone service range.

Situation: I might need the help of a “Good Samaritan.”
Hazard: The person posing as the “Good Samaritan” might be anything but.

My Employer's Responsibilities

My employer does what it can to protect me. It provides me with a cell phone and an accurate map to my destination. It makes sure the company car is serviced and kept in good running order. My employer also logs my departure time, destination and ETA and determines if I arrive at my destination on schedule.

My Responsibilities

What my employer cannot do, however, is control the intervening “human” factors and unforeseeable events that inevitably dictate outcomes. It's up to me to deal with these things as they arise. To do that, I must keep my cool and use common sense. I can also take certain general precautions in advance just in case unforeseen events do arise.

This combination of common sense and precautionary measures could involve such things as:

• Studying the map my employer gave me so that I'm acquainted with the route and less likely to get lost.
• Making sure that a supervisor, co-worker or relative knows my intinerary and schedule before I leave.
• Sticking to my plans and avoiding, to the extent possible, changes in my travel route and unscheduled stops.
• Verifying that persons I am to meet with are in fact who they claim to be.
• Making sure the cell phone battery is charged and that service is available en route and at my destination.
• Having a back-up communication device. Because my employer has provided the primary communication method, it's up to me to make arrangements for a backup.
• Taking a course in self defense and basic car repair – just in case.

Protecting Isolated Workers Is a Two-Way Street

Working alone is dangerous because it heightens the risks inherent in the job. This is true whether the work involves travel, working with toxic substances, handling money or any other conditions; it's true whether the individual working alone is male or female. The job of protecting the worker is a shared responsibility between employer and worker.

It is the employer's job to provide instructions to the worker and to ensure that others are aware of the worker's whereabouts and schedule. The employer must also furnish a means of communication that at a minimum enables the worker to call for help.

But workers who work alone also have an important role to play in protecting themselves. Specifically, they can take precautions to ensure they're ready for eventualities that cannot be anticipated and that they keep their heads and show common sense when and if these unforeseen events arise.

Conclusion

Some jobs just have to be done by lone and isolated workers. But working together, employers and workers can do much to ensure that these circumstances don't result in incidents that lead at best to terror and at worst to injuries, illnesses and fatalities.

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