Lone workers are not a single issue
Engineers are an independent breed – they have to be because their job can be a lonely, self-reliant one. As advancing computing and mobile communications push the engineer deeper into the nooks and crannies of the country, this dependency on their wits will become heightened.
But it also increases the risks to which they are exposed. Sometimes the environmental risks are obvious – climbing up ladders, dealing with high voltages or radiation or working in sub zero temperatures for example. In the residential sector they are different but just as threatening perhaps: uncontrolled dogs and even more uncontrollable people with threats of violence and robbery being ever present.
Employers have a duty of care to their workers and there is a wealth of regulation that covers many of the potentially dangerous circumstances. Technology can help, but most important is the cultural issue of the macho engineer that needs to be addressed as a priority. Management must take action to protect lone workers and not just pay lip service. Arguing there is nothing that can be done is not acceptable.
This column has discussed before how the profile of the service engineer is and must change to meet the new world of service. Part of this change must be the culture that some how the field engineer is a separate entity from the corporate body, that the same rules don’t apply, that somehow they are a special case. The safety of the lone engineer provides a good test case of management’s willingness to grasp this nettle.