Section 2:
Organisational attitudes to safety
Organisations are taking lone worker safety much more seriously than they did a few years ago, according to executives.
With the reported rise in people working alone, prioritising lone worker initiatives is more important than ever.
These range from getting budgets for safety initiatives, prioritizing lone worker safety among other business functions, and having specific policies relating to lone working.
Our data indicates that lone worker safety is being taken more seriously in 2024 than in previous years. Leading on from this, 67% of executives said that lone working safety will continue to grow in importance in the coming years.
63% of executives surveyed said they found it easy to get budgetary sign-off for safety initiatives in 2024.
On top of that 94% of executives and 86% of lone workers said they have formal lone worker policies and procedures in place.
Unfortunately, it’s not all good news, we found a third of executives still find it difficult to influence senior management’s views about the needs of lone workers.
Differences in outlook
However, our research also revealed a significant discrepancy in the perspectives of executives vs. lone workers.
We asked both groups to rate how seriously their organisation takes the safety of its lone workers on a scale of 0 – 10, and the results show a marked difference in viewpoints. An overwhelming 91% of executives scored themselves as a 10, compared to 49% of lone workers.
Another notable difference was shown when respondents were asked whether lone worker safety was prioritised relative to other business functions (financial targets, meetings etc).
50% of executives claimed safety is the same in the priority order as financial targets and deadlines, whereas 29% of lone workers say they are prioritised less. Interestingly, 17% of executives agree with them.
Do risk assessments account for lone workers?
One question we wanted to answer was whether risk assessments take account of the unique risks faced by lone workers.
There was a perception gap between the two groups of respondents, with executives giving a significantly more positive impression than lone workers.
We asked, “Do your risk assessments include the question of ‘are you lone working,’” and “do they take into account additional risks relating to lone workers?”
46% of executives said that all risk assessments included a lone working question and took these risks into account vs 30% of lone workers.
7% of executives say there is no account for lone working in risk assessments, but twice as many lone workers (14%!) say the same.
Do your risk assessments include the question of ‘are you lone working?
Executives who say assessments include a lone working question
Lone workers who say assessments include a lone working question
Another difference was spotted with responses the question: “How regularly do you / your lone workers use these risk assessments?” 51% of executives say that risk assessments are done regularly, but just 31% of lone workers say the same.