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Employers warned not to risk loneworkers' safety to cut costs

03 June 2008

Employers have been told not to cut corners on systems to protect the safety of loneworkers in a move to save costs.

The chief executive of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, Steven Gauge, told Workplace Law Network today that employers must ensure the protection systems remain in place throughout periods of economic downfall.

Mr Gauge said he is worried that the advice being given out could be forgotten as the pressure to keep a business afloat increases.

"We would urge everyone to make sure that they still have systems in place so that they know where their staff are and training in place so that staff know how to avoid difficult situations and to diffuse potential violent situations," he said.

Men are more likely to be victims of violence and aggression and there is more men can do to make themselves safer at work, he added.

The trust advises employers to have a robust personal safety policy within their health and safety regulations.

Suzy Lamplugh was a loneworking estate agent who went missing in 1986 and has never been found.

Last year the trust warned that the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 means that companies and organisations can be found guilty of corporate manslaughter as a result of serious management failures resulting in a gross breach of duty of care.