We don’t like to think of New Zealand as being an angry county. Maybe it’s better to say it is a frustrated one, with tensions boiling over from time to time as we continue to live with COVID-19. With Guardian Angel Safety specialising in lone worker safety, we are obviously concerned about this. Most New Zealand companies have lone workers in the field and situations where employees have to leave the relative safety of a team to do something on their own. It’s what happens when they encounter a potentially dangerous situation that we’re particularly interested in, and in this day and age, that situation often arises when dealing with angry individuals who are affected by the pandemic in some way.
We get a lot of feedback from our clients stating that this is the case. We also monitor local media for stories about worker safety being compromised. What we’re picking up is that more and more people are lashing out at each other for not wearing masks, or not physically distancing themselves. Vaccinated versus unvaccinated might be another flashpoint. It’s as if there is a simmering resentment that threatens to get out of hand at any given moment. All it takes is the smallest of triggers for that to occur.
We think that when frustrations boil over, your staff are at risk when they are working out in the community. No one will be more aware of this than your employees, and it is hardly good for their morale if they’re working under constant fear. Staff are going to work more productively when they’re feeling good about life; fear is an emotion that runs contrary to all that.
You may have more lone workers on your team than ever before e.g. you have had to downsize your team during the pandemic and more employees are now tasked with doing work on their own. If this is a relatively recent phenomenon, you may be a little unprepared and unsure how to improve the safety of any team member carrying out their duties while they’re unaccompanied.
We can help. Having an app or lone worker device will make your employees feel cared for, and safer. New Zealand is still a very safe country – but in this current climate where a lot of our fellow Kiwis are feeling on edge, your employees deserve better protection than ever before. Contact us and we’ll help you keep them safe.
