Geolocation for lone workers: Which solution to choose?

Before selecting a lone worker protection system, employers should assess the working environment and the risks employees may face. Do they work indoors, outdoors, at height or underground? Do they travel between locations? Would they be easy to locate in an emergency?

These considerations are important when choosing a solution that provides suitable location tracking capabilities.

In large or complex environments, such as warehouses, manufacturing facilities or distribution centres, identifying an employee's precise location can be challenging. GPS signals may be weak or unavailable indoors, making satellite-based tracking alone insufficient.

For these environments, businesses should consider lone worker protection systems that support alternative positioning technologies to help locate employees when GPS coverage is limited.

Many lone worker protection devices use mobile networks to transmit alerts and location information, operating in a similar way to mobile phones.

Mobile network positioning can estimate a worker's location using nearby cellular masts. However, its accuracy varies depending on network coverage, mast density and the surrounding environment.

For more precise outdoor location tracking, many devices also use satellite-based positioning technologies, such as GPS. These can provide more detailed location information when sufficient satellite signals are available.

Combining mobile connectivity with GPS positioning can help monitoring teams identify a lone worker's location and coordinate an appropriate response when an alert is raised.

Wi-Fi positioning can provide an effective way to locate lone workers inside buildings where GPS signals may be limited or unavailable.

Compatible lone worker protection devices can use nearby Wi-Fi access points to estimate an employee's location when an alert is triggered. This can help monitoring teams identify the area of a building where assistance may be required.

Where suitable Wi-Fi infrastructure is already in place, this approach may reduce the need to install additional dedicated location beacons. However, positioning accuracy will depend on factors such as network configuration, access point coverage and device compatibility.

Where Wi-Fi positioning is unsuitable or unavailable, dedicated radio or Bluetooth beacons can provide an alternative method of locating lone workers indoors.

These beacons are installed at strategic points throughout a building and work with compatible lone worker protection devices to help identify an employee's location.

When an alert is triggered, the system can use information from nearby or recently detected beacons to estimate the worker's position. This information can help monitoring teams or designated contacts identify where assistance may be required.

The accuracy of beacon-based positioning depends on factors such as beacon placement, signal strength, building layout and device compatibility.

Some lone worker protection devices can record and periodically update their GPS location, allowing the last known position to be transmitted when an alert is triggered.

If an employee enters a building where GPS reception is unavailable, the device may retain a location recorded before they went indoors. This can help monitoring teams identify the site or approximate entry point, although it may not indicate the worker's precise location within the building.

This approach can be particularly useful for mobile lone workers, such as maintenance engineers and field service technicians, who regularly visit different premises.

However, employers should consider whether additional indoor positioning technologies or established check-in procedures are necessary to ensure workers can be located effectively in an emergency.