Lone Worker Security for Utility Workers

Utility companies frequently have employees who work alone in remote areas. If anything happened to them, would you know?

As of March 2015, there were approximately 558 thousand Americans who work within the utilities sector (United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics). Utility workers face unique dangers. Not only can their job provide hazardous work settings that increase their likelihood of injury (according to Electrical Safety Foundation International, from 2003-2010 there were 182 fatalities in the utility segment due solely to contact with electric current), but in many instances they can also face risk from those that they interface with during their work. Just as utilities workers are the ones providing the service to their customers, they are also the ones tasked with disconnection of service. One could imagine the amount of potentially disgruntled soon to be ex-customers that they must face doing this. This leaves them vulnerable to both social and environmental risks.

Meter readers sometimes go into backyards unbeknownst to the customer or to a customer’s dog. In some instances, this can catch the customer and/or their backyard pets off-guard and cause them to go on the defense, putting the worker in danger. Another definite risk that meter readers face is harsh weather, such as extreme cold or heat, leading to the risk of heat stroke and other related health issues. Many companies in this industry currently track the company vehicle and may even rely on that for location purposes in safety incidents. If an employee is reading meters and parks his truck well down the street as he walks from house to house and suffers from heat stroke or heart attack some distance away from his vehicle, or is attacked somewhere away from his vehicle, tracking the company truck won’t be much help with finding him.

Many utility workers also work at plants, for instance, water treatment plants. These plants are often remotely located and very sparsely staffed. If one of your employees had an accident in a remote area of the facility and were without their cell phone, how long would it be before you or someone else knew something was wrong? How long would it take to get them the help they needed?

The SoloProtect worker safety solution can help utility workers with both social and environmental risks.

SoloProtect’s 'Incapacitation' feature is ideal for environmental injuries in which the employee cannot send an alert themselves, and SoloProtect’s red alert feature allows employees to manually and discreetly send an alert when they sense danger, which can be used to combat social risks.