ATEX: How to Protect Lone Workers With a Two-Way Radio
08/12/2023
ATEX sites are a potential ticking time bomb when it comes to worker safety risks. As potentially explosive environments, the dangers for lone workers (in particular) are heightened. Add into the mix that vast amount of space found on some sites, and you begin to scratch your head about how you can ensure your isolated workers are always safe.
In this blog, we'll discuss the importance of protecting lone workers, how a radio feature can be life saving, and why it's not "fine" to take an approach where safety corners are cut.
Protecting lone workers
Lone worker protection is a serious subject. An estimated eight million people in the UK are classed as lone workers - that's almost 22 per cent of the working population. In an ATEX environment, the risks for lone workers are heightened due to the potentially dangerous working conditions.
On face value, looking after these kind of workers should be straightforward. But the bigger the ATEX site, the bigger the challenge to get things right from a safety perspective. In emergency situations, no time can be wasted trying to find where someone is, or having to work from one side to the other.
Using a two-way radio with the Lone Worker feature is a great way to not improve their welfare, but also increase their safety.
What is the Lone Worker feature?
On an ATEX radio, Lone Worker is a feature where a pre-defined message or 'alert' is sent to a lone worker's radio. Often it is sent from a dispatcher unit (commonly from the control room) and the message will continue to send or beep until the worker responds by pressing a button.
Once the end user responds, the dispatcher controller will see that the lone worker is okay - saving the time and effort of someone either having to make a radio call or go on foot to speak with the worker.
If they don't respond in the alloted time, an emergency alarm will be triggered, and the exact GPS location of the lone worker will be present on a map of the site. This helps to reduce response time during an emergency, and avoid situations where someone is found too late.
Situations where "fine" isn't a good thing
If businesses are seen or found to be ignoring their duties when it comes to lone work protection, the consequences can be severe. Unfortunately, there's situations where the outcome is disastrous.
Earlier this month, a company in Wakefield was handed a £200,000 fine relating to an incident that took place in 2020. A worker had entered a metal tank to carry out welding work. Moments later, a second worker went to check on his colleague, only to find him slumped at the bottom.
Both workers collapsed due to a gas leak, with one worker subsequently spending 12 days in a coma - and with life changing injuries. The lack of robust controls, effective training, and emergency procedures was highlighted during the prosecution process.
And back in 2017, a utility company was handed a £900,000 fine in the aftermath of fatal incident, where an experience linesman carrying out routine maintenance fell to his death.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was left scathing about the lack of lone worker systems and planning in place.
Penalties for not protecting lone workers can range from £50 up to £10 million, so it's of great importance that businesses work out in advance what the best solution is for workers they have that operate in isolation.
Eemits ATEX radio solutions
For over three decades we've worked with ATEX-designated sites in the UK to deliver ultra-smart digital two-way radio solutions for them. These solutions cover everything from emergency response, lone worker welfare, and comprehensive GPS location tracking.
Want to find out more about what we can implement for your business? Contact us today or call us on 0800 328 0100. We're open between 8:30am and 5:15pm Monday to Friday.
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