Choosing a check-in interval is a planning decision, not just an app setting. Start with the task, what could go wrong and how help would reach the worker. A lone worker app can support that plan, but a convenient reminder interval is not evidence that the arrangements are suitable.
At a glance
- Choose contact timings through the risk assessment.
- Consider the whole delay before help could reach someone.
- Test the arrangements with workers and responders.
Start with the work and the person
HSE’s guidance for Great Britain recommends pre-agreed intervals of contact and says supervision should reflect the risk assessment. The guidance does not prescribe one check-in interval for every lone-working job.
Consider the work, location, worker’s experience and foreseeable emergencies. First decide whether the activity is suitable for lone working at all. Shortening a timer cannot make an unsuitable task safe. Record why the chosen contact arrangements fit this activity, rather than copying another team’s settings.
Look beyond the reminder
A useful planning question is: if someone became unable to check in just after their last confirmation, what would happen next? Map the sequence from that point through the next due check-in, any overdue allowance, notification and the responder’s actions.
Include the practical time needed to contact the worker, establish what is happening and arrange appropriate help. Do not count only the interval shown on the phone. Delivery and response are not instantaneous, and a plan should account for failed contact as well as successful contact.
Practical example: a weekend archive session
Consider an archive assistant scheduled to catalogue records alone on a Saturday. The work is desk-based, but the usual office team will be absent and entry to the records building is controlled.
The manager could review the task and access arrangements before choosing the check-in timings. A responder who is available by phone but cannot arrange entry would leave a gap, however frequent the check-ins.
The team could work through a missed-contact scenario: who receives the alert, who tries the agreed contact routes, who can arrange access and what happens if the first responder cannot act? If that exercise reveals an unacceptable delay, the manager should change the arrangements or the work plan, rather than treating a shorter interval as the whole solution.
For a session assessed as suitable, LoneApp could provide the activity duration and organisation-set check-in frequency and overdue allowances. The worker could confirm the plan before starting and check that each check-in is received by the server.
The lesson is to choose the timing alongside response cover. The interval and the people who act on missed contact belong in the same decision.
Make the routine workable, then review it
Ask the worker whether they can follow the proposed routine from a safe position during the task. Explain the difference between the next check-in and the planned activity finish; LoneApp displays these separately.
HSE recommends testing contact systems and emergency procedures. Use a controlled exercise to check understanding and practical response, then review the timings when the task, workplace or responder cover changes. Follow your organisation’s procedure for authorising changes.
LoneApp does not replace risk assessment, safe working or employer response arrangements. A staffed alarm receiving centre is not included.
Review one activity’s timings
Next step: take one LoneApp activity and write down the steps between a missed check-in and appropriate help. Review any gaps with the worker and nominated responders before relying on the settings.