Ensuring Safety in the Workplace with Employee Safety Monitoring from Ok Alone
Employee safety monitoring is essential for businesses to protect their employees and ensure they are safe while performing their jobs. With the rise of remote and flexible work arrangements, complete workforce visibility with worker safety monitoring is crucial for businesses to fulfil their duty of care. By implementing worker safety monitoring, businesses improve employee safety, increase efficiency, and comply with health and safety regulations.
The need to monitor workplace safety and provide complete workplace visibility
Complete workforce visibility is where a business utilises real-time safety monitoring of its employees. This is especially important when employees work in remote or isolated locations. It allows the employer to monitor the safety of its employees and respond quickly in the event of an emergency. With worker safety monitoring, businesses can receive alerts if a worker misses a check-in or if there are indications that they have been inactive for an extended period.
Why companies need employee monitoring
According to data collected by Insightful, nearly 80% of major companies now use employee monitoring.¹ But why should companies use safety monitoring services?
With staff working remotely or from home, they are increasingly isolated from their colleagues and do not have the backup or community that they would in an office environment. Therefore, it is essential to have a way for management to know a worker’s location should an emergency arise. To do this, they need to introduce lone worker safety monitoring.
Investing in personnel safety monitoring is more important than ever
Companies are increasingly worried about being held accountable for worker injuries or deaths. There has been a sharp rise in Managers, Directors and CEO’s being found liable for injuries and deaths within their company. Demonstrating that you have invested in your employees’ safety by installing safety monitoring services will help show that you understand just how important keeping them safe is.
Evidence shows that workforce safety monitoring systems make a business more efficient. In some larger companies, for example, managers can easily spend over three hours a day completing admin-based tasks. ¹ Having an employee monitoring system removes that need. Clock-ins and shift ends, locations, and shift rotas are all automated, giving managers much more opportunity to be at the forefront of what is happening within the business.
What are the pros of a worker safety monitoring system?
Pros
- Having workplace safety monitoring gives workers access to a help button that enables them to request immediate assistance in an emergency. This can be done by tapping an onscreen button or shaking/tapping the phone’s back if discretion is needed.
- Working remotely means staff are out and about throughout their day. Using an employee monitoring solution with GPS capabilities allows management to see where staff are if there is danger in the vicinity or the worker requests help.
- Companies that choose to monitor workplace safety are showing their employees that they care about their well-being. It is reassuring to those staff who may be alone, that someone knows where they are and can send help if required.
- Lone worker safety monitoring should only be activated when workers are actively on shift. This shows staff that their employers can clearly see the need to respect their privac
What are the cons of a worker monitoring system?
Cons
- Some employee monitoring systems are not focussed on employee safety and instead monitor staff performance and productivity. This can be quite unnerving for staff as they feel like they are being watched by management.
- In some cases staff actually are being watched. Some software is very intrusive and takes sporadic screenshots of worker’s laptops or accesses the laptop’s camera and take photos of staff to check they are sat at their desk working.
- These features of the monitoring solutions imply to staff that they are not trusted by management to allocate and manage their own time. But instead have to be spied on in a manner designed to ‘catch them out’ not doing what they are supposed to.
- Other monitoring solutions do not turn off, therefore, they are tracking worker’s locations and computer use outside of their work hours. Some would argue that if they are using work phones or laptops then this is acceptable, but is it?
What are the laws around employee monitoring?
In some instances, employee tracking and monitoring systems serve other important purposes. Their main goals are to prevent internal theft, examine employee productivity, ensure company resources are being used appropriately, and provide evidence for any potential litigation. However, laws vary throughout different countries, and what you may find lawful in one country is, in fact, unlawful in another.
What are the worker monitoring laws in Canada?
In Canada employee monitoring is allowed when Canadian privacy statutes are upheld. Collection, use or disclosure of personal information should normally be done only with an employee’s knowledge and consent. The employer should only collect personal information that’s necessary for its stated purpose and collect it by fair and lawful means. The employer should say what personal information it collects from employees, why it collects it and what it does with it.²
What are the worker monitoring laws in the United Kingdom?
Within the U.K employers might monitor workers in various ways, such as:
- CCTV
- drug testing
- bag searches
- checking a worker’s emails or the websites they look at
The Data Protection Act 2018 covers any monitoring that involves taking data, images or drug testing. The Act sets out 6 key principles for employers to adhere to when monitoring their staff:
- Monitoring must be lawful, fair, and transparent.
- The purpose of the monitoring must be specified, explicit, and legitimate.
- If employee monitoring involves collecting or using personal information, the data collected must be adequate, relevant, and not excessive.
- The personal data must be accurate and kept up to date.
- If personal data is collected, it shouldn’t be kept for any longer than is necessary.
- Information gathered through monitoring should be kept secure.⁴
What are the worker monitoring laws in the United States?
Within the United States, The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 is a federal law that allows employers to monitor their employees’ verbal and written communications under certain circumstances. Some state laws regulate this activity. Federal, and most state privacy laws give discretion to employers as to how far they can go with their employee monitoring programs. In some cases, employers do not have to inform employees that they are being monitored. Some regulations do require employee consent. The most notable laws are found in:
- Connecticut: Any company that monitors its employees in the workplace must inform them in writing and detail the worker tracking methods used ahead of time.
- California, Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina: All these states’ constitutions explicitly state that residents have a right to privacy. As such, employers in these states may need to tread carefully when setting up employee monitoring systems.³
How Ok Alone is used for worker safety monitoring?
Ok Alone is an employee safety monitoring solution in the form of a lone worker app that focuses on keeping staff safe. One way it does this is by having real-time location tracking for all staff who are on shift.
This information is visible to management on easily accessible maps that are found on the cloud-based dashboard. These details ensure staff requiring help can be reached as quickly as possible in an emergency and allow companies to successfully monitor workplace safety.
Location monitoring and geofencing
Another aspect of the safety tracking at work that Ok Alone uses is through geofencing. This involves creating a geofence electronic barrier (safety zone) around a work site to ensure that the management team are always aware of a worker's location. Should an employee leave the geofenced area, the management will receive a notification, alerting them to a possible problem that needs immediate attention.
Integrated safety monitoring services
A lot of companies have ways of tracking their vehicles or the cargo, as that is what they deem most valuable. But what about the person driving that vehicle? Ok Alone believes that the people are the most important asset of any company. That’s why they monitor people first, product second. Ok Alone has an Add-In that works with existing fleet tracking software that shows the location of both the driver and the vehicle on a single map, therefore enhancing lone worker safety monitoring.
Employee safety monitoring with reliable GPSS
Knowing where someone is in an emergency is crucial. The Ok Alone app has three settings workers can choose from for updating their location via GPS.
GPS High uses the phone's GPS to provide continuous data updated every 10 seconds and is the most accurate setting. GPS Normal updates a location every 1-2 minutes, reducing battery usage while still providing accurate location data in an emergency. Non-GPS updates the location at regular intervals and maximises battery life but is not recommended if the worker is frequently moving locations.
Enhanced workplace safety monitoring by partnering with what3words
In 2020, Ok Alone partnered with the location app what3words. Teaming up with what3words was a no-brainer! This feature gives a three-meter square plot with its own three-word coordinates that can be shared or navigated to.
On the Ok Alone dashboard, users will find a map with the worker’s location. Underneath the map is an option to retrieve the what3words position and coordinates. Simple and accurate location tracking further aiding safety monitoring at work.
What are workers’ views on safety monitoring at work?
New research commissioned by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) in the UK questioned 2,152 employees about their workplaces. Nearly half of respondents don’t believe their employer has their health and safety in mind, while four in ten don’t agree their work is supportive of their physical and mental wellbeing.
A rather shocking 44% disagreed with the statement: “I trust my employer has my safety and health in mind because of the attention they pay to the way we work.”⁵
Despite this survey being completed in the United Kingdom, it is likely a reflection of feelings across many sectors at present. People are not feeling appreciated or valued by their employers. Opting for employee monitoring software to track people’s keystrokes and response times is not going to help foster a better atmosphere.
Instead, getting an employee safety monitoring system will help employers show employees that they are valued and their safety and well-being is a priority.
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Examples of how Ok Alone is used in different workplace safety monitoring scenarios
Security guard monitoring
Some companies have problems with their security guards sleeping on the job. Using the pre-programmed check-ins means guards have to check in more frequently and are less likely to fall asleep. The safety of security guards can be increased by introducing a geofence (safety zone) around the site they are working. If they are forced to leave the site, a monitor will be alerted by the system and be able to see the guard’s location on the dashboard map..
Drivers Safety Monitoring
Ok Alone is capable of working with existing fleet monitoring software to monitor the safety and location of delivery drivers. Drivers can check in with the solution using their voice, so they do not need to take their hands off the wheel. Alternatively, they can set up Drive Mode, which recognises the vehicle is moving when a check-in is due and checks the driver in automatically.
Multiple workers monitoring
Setting up a safety zone around a specific area where you have multiple workers allows management to see that all workers are on site. They can also see if any workers leave the area and will be notified if this occurs.
Of course, there are many other areas where workers will benefit from a dedicated tool for the monitor of workplace safety. At Ok Alone for example we assist those working in:
- Retail
- Hospitality
- Agriculture
- Logistics
- Care
- Education
and many more. Contact our team to see how your staff wellbeing and safety can be improved through the introduction of an employee safety management system like Ok Alone.
Article References
- https://www.insightful.io/employee-monitoring
- https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/practice-areas/labour-and-employment/collecting-employee-data/277305
- https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6685-employee-monitoring-privacy.html
- https://www.mad-hr.co.uk/blog/is-monitoring-employees-legal-in-uk This text was originally written by MAD-HR Ltd. Copyright © 2022 MAD-HR Ltd. All rights reserved: https://www.mad-hr.co.uk/blog/is-monitoring-employees-legal-in-uk
- https://www.hsmsearch.com/Research-picture-UK-workplace-IOSH
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