Why human connection is important for lone worker safety

Most employers have employees who need to work alone. Whether they’re a health care work, delivery driver, or technician, all employees who work alone need to check in with someone. Regular check-ins can make sure they’re safe and work alone monitoring is required by law.

A lone worker monitoring service allows employees to check-in at certain intervals during their workday. It includes check-ins at the start and end of their shift. It’s typical to have the worker use a mobile app or other digital check-in systems. At CommAlert, we prefer human-to-human check-ins over the phone for the first and last check-in of a worker’s shift. Here’s why:

A voice lets your worker know they’re cared for

Voice is central to communication and connection. Receiving a digital notification as a check-in reminder is only a small aspect of an effective work alone monitoring system. By speaking with one of our live agents, your worker can share their concerns. Our agents can get a real sense of how they are doing.

We encourage our lone workers to call in for the first and last check-in each shift. The other check-ins can be done digitally via text, email, or mobile app. This kind of lone worker monitoring can bring peace of mind to your employee knowing that an actual human is looking out for them.

Human connection is vital, now more than ever

Lone workers can feel isolated. While this has always been true, the pandemic has cut us off from regular human interaction. Those connections are even more valuable now. Checking-in with a real person can improve mood, job satisfaction, and productivity. Plus, as the worker gets to know our agents, these benefits will increase.

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, human connection has many health benefits. It can lower anxiety and depression, regulate emotions, and improve our immune systems. Essentially, we need to connect with others. Lone workers need to connect to ensure their safety on the job. However, the benefits of live agent lone worker monitoring extend past their immediate physical safety.

Comprehensive lone worker monitoring improves employee retention

Work alone monitoring is required by law, and costs are involved. While there are cheaper options compared to CommAlert’s program, it doesn’t mean they are better.

The CommAlert Group’s mission is to make a difference in people’s lives by creating meaningful connections. Connecting with people, helping people, making sure they’re safe and well-informed is what we do best. It is both our passion and our expertise. We do offer all types of digital check-in procedures. Some might choose to use a mobile app or other means of checking-in. We still believe that lone worker safety is most effective with human-to-human contact at the beginning and end of the worker’s shift.

While cheaper options for work alone monitoring exist, they lack care and connection. These things can help your employees feel valued. A personal, customized, and comprehensive lone worker monitoring system will show your workers that you care. It will lead to employee retention and a stronger team.

There is a monthly fee for each worker on your program, but you’ll only receive additional charges if we have to initiate a call-out procedure for an employee who has missed a check-in. From our experience, we’ve learned that building relationships with lone workers result in fewer missed check-ins. The workers are happy to check in and forget less often – this reduces the employer’s cost.

Get started with CommAlert’s work alone monitoring

We understand that there is no one size fits all when it comes to lone worker safety. That’s why we customize our lone worker monitoring system to each individual. The amount and frequency of check-ins, how they check-in and technology used, and all our work alone procedures are customized.

Connect with us to learn more and to get started. 1-877-304-8725