The TwiceTouch® safety solutions are placed within a multiple regulation on the safety of lone workers; a set of decrees aimed at protecting this particular category of people in the workplace.
Among the different solutions we find the man down device TwiceTouch Easy Badge®, and the Android TwiceTouch® APP, which allow to send a man down alarm if the lone worker needs to rescue.
Since the figure of the “lone worker” is not defined by the Italian legislation, we will give an introductory explanation of it so as to be able to frame the subjects to whom to refer for the legislation which will be illustrated later.
Lone workers are all those workers who routinely or exceptionally work alone and without the presence of other subjects who can provide assistance in an emergency. Lone workers include all those who carry out maintenance alone, e.g. in an isolated facility, in an empty building such as a temporarily vacant home or office where there are no other workers present at the time. Another example is workers on construction sites or very large sheds which, although not isolated, are at such a distance from other workers that they cannot guarantee first aid in the event of an emergency.
Lone workers include the maintenance workers, the cleaners, the shift workers who work at night, the guards, etc.
The main regulatory point of reference for the protection of lone workers can be found in Legislative Decree 81/2008 “Consolidated Safety Act“. Specific obligations for the man down system are not outlined but there are indications for the employer as per Art. 15. The obligation for the employer to a) carry out an assessment of all health and safety risks, b) plan prevention, c) eliminate risks and, where this is not possible, reduce them to a minimum in relation to the knowledge acquired on the basis of technical progress.
In this regard, the need arises to guarantee the protection of this particular category of lone workers and Art. 43 and the Art. 45 of Legislative Decree 81/2008 for further information on how to behave in the event of this situation.
1. For the purposes of the obligations referred to in article 18, paragraph 1, letter t), the employer:
a) organizes the necessary relations with the public services responsible for first aid, rescue, firefighting and emergency management;
b) designates in advance the workers referred to in Article 18, paragraph 1, letter b);
c) informs all workers who may be exposed to serious and immediate danger about the measures taken and the behavior to be adopted;
d) plans interventions, takes measures and gives instructions so that workers, in the event of serious and immediate danger which cannot be avoided, can cease their activity, or take safety, by immediately leaving the workplace;
e) take the necessary measures so that any worker, in the event of serious and immediate danger to their own safety or of other people and in the impossibility of contacting the competent hierarchical superior, can take adequate measures to avoid the consequences of such danger, taking into account his knowledge and the technical means available;
e-bis) guarantees the presence of extinguishing means suitable for the class of fire and the level of risk present in the workplace, also taking into account the particular conditions in which they can be used. The obligation also applies to fixed, manual or automatic extinguishing systems, identified in relation to the risk assessment.
2. For the purposes of the designations referred to in paragraph 1, letter b), the employer takes into account the size of the company and the specific risks of the company or production unit according to the criteria set out in the decrees referred to in article 46 .
3. Workers cannot, except for justified reasons, refuse the designation. They must be trained, be in sufficient numbers and have adequate equipment, taking into account the size and specific risks of the company or production unit. With regard to Defense personnel, the specific training carried out at institutes or schools of the Administration itself qualifies for the function of emergency management officer.
4. The employer must, except for duly justified exceptions, refrain from asking workers to resume their activity in a work situation in which a serious and immediate danger persists.
1. The employer, taking into account the nature of the activity and the size of the company or production unit, having consulted the competent doctor where designated, takes the necessary measures regarding first aid and emergency medical assistance, taking into account any other people present in the workplace and establishing the necessary contact with external services, including for the transport of injured workers.
2. The minimum characteristics of the first aid equipment, the requirements of the assigned personnel and their training, identified in relation to the nature of the activity, the number of workers employed and the risk factors are identified by the ministerial decree of 15 July 2003, n. 388 and subsequent ministerial decrees of adaptation acquired the opinion of the Permanent Conference for relations between the State, the Regions and the autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano.
3. With specific ministerial decrees, having acquired the opinion of the Permanent Conference, having acquired the opinion of the Permanent Conference for relations between the State, the Regions and the autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano, the methods of application of the decree in the railway sector are defined Ministerial July 15, 2003, n. 388 and subsequent amendments.
With reference to Art. 2 paragraph 5 “In companies or production units that have workers who work in isolated places, other than the company headquarters or production unit, the employer is required to provide them with the medication package referred to in Annex 2 , which is part of this decree, and a means of communication suitable for connecting with the company in order to quickly activate the emergency system of the National Health Service”.
Also in this case the will of the legislator emerges, through the legislation on lone workers, to protect lone workers thanks to a special system that guarantees prompt intervention in the event of an emergency.
More specific documentation was produced by trade associations.
Among these stands out a paper entitled “The health and safety of the isolated worker” published in the Community RSPP Italia focused on deepening the aforementioned decree for this particular category of workers.
For more information you can download here.
From this report it emerges that providing lone workers with a man-down device is one of the safeguards not only of the worker at risk, but also of the employer.
For greater protection of lone workers, INAIL has provided concessions in terms of tariff reductions for companies that set up “man down” detection systems.
The OT/23 2023 form is online where in part F1 it can be indicated that the company has equipped its workers, whose duties involve working alone, with “man down” detection systems.
For the purpose of implementing the intervention, the “man down” detection systems must have been delivered to all workers whose duties involve working alone.
As probative documentation it is necessary to provide:
In this regard, TwiceTouch Easy Badge and the TwiceTouch Man Down APP can be used as man down devices for the purpose of preventing risk from lone work.
ISO 9001:2015 CERTIFICATION
Our company has obtained the UNI EN ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System Certification, for:
“Design and development of integrated systems and hardware and software solutions both standard and customized based on GNSS and radio frequency technology, for mobile solutions and for the safety of lone workers“.
