A lone worker solution is the combination of an alarm (a dedicated device or a smartphone app), the monitoring that answers it, and the escalation route that brings help. Under BS 8484:2022, all three parts are audited together as one service.
The three parts of a solution
Start with what raises the alarm. A dedicated device is purpose-built hardware: a badge, fob or wearable with an SOS button, location reporting and often automatic fall detection. A lone worker app puts the same functions on the phone staff already carry. Many organisations run both, matching the tool to the role.
Then decide who answers. Alarms can route to a 24/7 alarm receiving centre (ARC) staffed by trained operators, or to managers on a rota. The ARC route costs more and delivers more: operators who handle alarms all day, and, where the service is audited against BS 8484:2022, direct access to a fast-tracked police response that self-monitoring can never provide.
Escalation is the part most buyers under-examine. Ask any prospective supplier to walk through a missed check-in and a confirmed emergency step by step: who is contacted, in what order, with what timings, and on what evidence the police are called. The answers separate mature services from resold hardware.
Choosing between the options
| Question | Points one way | Points the other |
|---|---|---|
| Device or app? | Device: gloves or PPE, long shifts, confrontation risk, phone locked away | App: staff already carry a work phone, lower risk profile, faster rollout |
| ARC or self-monitoring? | ARC: any realistic chance of needing urgent help, URN police response required | Self-monitoring: low-risk check-in discipline only, no emergency response expectation |
| Audited or not? | Audited: emergencies are credible, procurement requires it | Unaudited: the risk assessment genuinely finds no emergency scenario |
Whichever combination fits, the decision should trace back to the risk assessment and be written into the lone worker policy, with the day-to-day routines covered in best practices.
In this guide
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Lone worker devices
The types, what they cost and what the standard requires of them.
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Lone worker apps
When the phone is enough and when it is not.
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Alarm monitoring and response
What an ARC does and how the police response works.
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Man down alarms
Automatic fall detection for the case where no button gets pressed.