Employee Safety Office

Overview

The Employee Safety Office (ESO) is a communication centre that provides Government of Alberta and municipalities, academia, schools and health sector staff with lone worker monitoring safety services. The ESO monitors and communicates in real time with staff who work alone to make sure they are safe and accounted for.

Working alone

Under the Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Code, a worker is considered to be working alone when:

• a worker is working alone at a work site
• assistance is not readily available if there is an emergency or if a worker is injured

Employer obligations

An employer must provide employees working alone with an effective system for communicating with their employer. This may include:

• radio communication
• landline or cellular telephone communication
• some other effective means of electronic communication

If electronic communication is not practical for a job site, the employer or designate must visit the worker at regular intervals appropriate to the risk level of the site.

How the ESO monitors lone workers

The ESO provides work alone monitoring services for Government of Alberta and municipalities, academia, schools and health sector staff employees in a wide range of occupations, including staff whose workplaces are at a fixed location, as well as those who travel as part of their duties.

Monitoring services provided by the ESO may include:

• sign-in/sign-off
• regular check-ins to confirm status
• requests for service, for example, police, ambulance, fire, tow truck
• location tracking

Contact

If your public sector organization requires support from the ESO for a lone worker, email us at [email protected] for inquiries or to request a meeting.

The ESO operates everyday, all year round (including weekends and public holidays) to the best practice of industry standards under the Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Code Act.