Standards and responsibility
What NALW is, what it is not, and what remains your responsibility
NALW automates welfare check-ins and alerts the people your organisation chooses when someone does not respond.
NALW is not a BS 8484-accredited service, an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) or an emergency-services dispatch provider. Your organisation remains responsible for assessing risks and arranging an appropriate response. If someone may be in danger, call 999.
What NALW provides
- Scheduled check-ins by SMS, email or a web link that works in any phone browser, with no app to install.
- Reminders and retries when a check is missed.
- A follow-up call from Zoe, an AI voice assistant, to the worker.
- Escalation to the contacts your organisation nominates, in the order you set, then to the account owner by email, text and an AI call.
- SOS and HELP keywords, an SOS option on the check-in page, and overdue-shift escalation for workers who clock on and off by text.
- A last-known location captured when the worker taps to check in or raises SOS. This is a snapshot, not live tracking.
- A record of every message, call, acknowledgement and closure.
What NALW does not provide
- No accreditation. NALW is not certified to BS 8484 or any other standard for lone worker services.
- No alarm receiving centre. Alerts are not received by a staffed alarm centre. The people who act on them are your own nominated contacts.
- No emergency-services dispatch. NALW does not call 999 or the police.
- No hardware. There is no wearable, fall detection or body-worn panic button.
- No guarantee of delivery. Messages and calls depend on phone networks, signal, battery and people being available. A check that cannot be delivered is treated as unanswered.
- No fixed response time. We do not promise how quickly your contacts will respond.
What BS 8484 is
BS 8484 is the British Standard code of practice for the provision of lone worker services. The current edition, BS 8484:2022, covers lone worker devices and applications, monitoring, training, management information and response options. Under it, monitoring must be done by an ARC that conforms to BS 9518 (and an ARC standard such as BS 5979 or BS EN 50518). Services certified to BS 8484 can be set up so that urgent alarms are passed to police forces through a unique reference number.
It is a code of practice, not a law. BSI's page has the official description, and our guide BS 8484 and lone worker devices explains it in plain English.
To compare the two approaches, read Lone-worker check-in software or a monitored alarm service?
Your responsibilities as the employer
- Assess the risk. The law requires a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to your employees (Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3). HSE says employers must manage the risks before people work alone (HSE lone working guidance).
- Choose the right control. Decide whether check-ins are enough for each type of work, or whether you also need a device and an ARC.
- Nominate reliable contacts. The escalation list only works if the people on it know their role, are reachable, and can act.
- Brief and tell your workers. Explain what is collected and why. See monitoring, privacy and employee confidence.
- Keep the system tested and current. Check contacts and schedules regularly, and run test scenarios.
- Use 999 for emergencies. NALW is not a substitute for the emergency services.
Our lone-working policy guide and free templates can help you put this in writing.
Which risk profile fits?
This is guidance, not a rule. Your risk assessment decides.
| Typically suited to check-in software | Consider a device and ARC service as well, or instead |
|---|---|
| Routine visits and site work where the main concern is that a problem goes unnoticed | Work with a significant risk of violence or abduction |
| Teams with managers who can respond when called | Situations where a worker may be unable to reply or move |
| Lower-to-moderate-risk roles across many people | Contracts, clients or insurers that require a BS 8484 service |
| Organisations wanting a documented, repeatable process | Remote work where an automated call and a chain of colleagues could not reach the worker in time |
Related: How it works · Product tour · Pricing · Lone-working policy guide · Resources
Know when your lone workers are safe
Tell us about your team and we'll arrange access or a demonstration.
From £49/month · No specialist hardware · Customer-managed escalation