Working alone is unfortunately not uncommon. Thanks to extensive automation, industry as well as municipal and municipal utilities work entire night, Sunday and public holidays shifts with minimal personnel deployment. And it is expected that the number of lone workers will continue to rise. Occupational safety must therefore adapt to these sometimes completely new conditions in order to ensure the level of protection for lone workers. An employee is considered a lone worker if he carries out his work outside of call and sight of other people. Whether in industry, trade or crafts, dealing with the issue of working alone affects every sector and company size. These are often mobile services and jobs that take place outside normal working hours or are based on on-call service.

Examples of individual workplaces at risk:
-Mechanical cutting, milling, planing and dressing work (production)
-Carrying out chemical tests in the laboratory (handling hazardous substances
-Forest work
-welding work in or on particularly hazardous objects (e.g. in confined spaces and containers, near potentially explosive workplaces, etc.)
-Forklift drivers working on or testing with parts under tension in the warehouse.

To protect lone workers, it is important that they are able to get help immediately in an emergency or that help is reached quickly. Lone workers are workers who work alone and suffer an accident (e.g. crashes, get electrocuted or injured) or are victims of attacks. They are often not found over a longer period of time. This time can determine the health and life of those affected. According to Section 5 Occupational Health and Safety Act, the entrepreneur must determine the risks associated with working alone and assess the working conditions. Based on the assessment, appropriate measures must be taken and documented in accordance with Section 6 Occupational Health and Safety Act. Protective measures for “hazardous work” are particularly relevant. In this context, an increased or critical risk is considered dangerous due to the work process, the type of activity, the substances used or the environment. The DGUV states: “If hazardous work is carried out by one person alone, the entrepreneur must ensure appropriate technical or organizational personal protection measures in addition to general protection measures” (Section 8 (2) DGUV Regulation 1).

The use of a PNA-11 is always useful when working alone and the risks associated with the activity can no longer be classified as low in accordance with DGUV rule 112-139. In principle, it must be considered that a personal emergency signal system cannot protect an employee from hazards. In the event of an emergency situation, the system must securely transmit the signals, trigger the alarm at an occupied location and enable first responders or professional rescue workers to find the wearer of the personal emergency signal device (PNG-11) within an acceptable time. In order to live up to this responsibility, technical and organizational criteria must be met. On the one hand, reliable transmission of signals must be ensured and, on the other hand, employees must be able to properly manage the incoming alarm (Who is affected? Where is the injured person? Which rescue workers need to be notified? How do rescue workers find the person in need? Who needs additional information?)

For companies that deal with the issue of emergency signal systems for persons, the statutory accident insurance companies have summarized the criteria, functional features, technical parameters and information on risk assessment and risk assessment in accordance with DGUV Rule 112-139 and DGUV Information 212-139.
These publications and information can usually be obtained from professional associations.

The mobile personal emergency signal devices in our Life-Tel series are specially developed to secure lone workers who work at individual workstations, on extensive outdoor facilities and in hazardous areas. The Life Tel series offers extensive alarm functions, which can be combined as desired. In factory mode, the device meets all requirements of the German Social Accident Insurance, or DGUV 112-139 (formerly BGR 139). With the help of the built-in sensors, the Life Tel recognizes the movement profile of the injured person, so that in the event of an emergency, an emergency signal including an emergency call is automatically triggered to the connected control center, even if the wearer is no longer conscious (dead man switching). As a result, the rescue chain starts immediately, so that the victim can be found immediately with all transmitted information (e.g. GPS coordinates), when every second counts.