How the New At-Risk Worker Is Reshaping Safety Strategy
By Danny Hay, CEO, Field Safe Solutions
The definition of an at-risk worker has changed.
For years, many organizations associated worker risk mainly with remote industrial sites or obviously hazardous jobs. Those risks still matter, but today’s at-risk worker may also be a field technician between appointments, a municipal employee working alone, a property worker entering an unfamiliar building, a land professional in isolated terrain, or a service employee operating off-site without immediate backup. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) defines working alone broadly: it can include anyone who cannot be seen or heard by another person, including receptionists, home care workers, field workers, cleaners and construction workers working out of sight. CCOHS also notes that off-site work often involves lone work and requires risk assessment, check-in procedures, training, buddy systems, and awareness of high-risk areas.
That is the real shift: risk no longer stays inside the fence line. It travels with the worker.
Safety leaders are responding accordingly. The National Safety Council’s 2024 Work to Zero research found that 65% of employers in high-risk industries had recently researched or considered adopting new safety technologies, while 83% of employees said they were open to using them. Construction led the way, with 84% of employers considering adoption, but the broader signal is more important than any one sector: safety technology is moving from experimentation toward mainstream evaluation and deployment. The same report found rising consideration of tools such as risk management software, geofencing, lone worker monitoring, and real-time location technologies.
That momentum is being driven by more than compliance. It is also being driven by the way work itself is changing. ASSP’s 2026 Corporate Listening Tour says chronic skills gaps and rapid onboarding pressures are now primary drivers of safety risk, and that “technology augments humanity” rather than replacing it. In other words, organizations are not just buying software. They are trying to give stretched teams better visibility, earlier warning signs, and faster ways to respond.
Related Content: How AI is Making Lone Worker Safety Predictive
Canadian safety leaders are making a similar point from the field. Larry Jones, vice president of corporate health, safety and environment at Ledcor, said that when organizations want better decisions, “you have to have good data.” That matters because the new at-risk worker creates exactly the kind of dynamic, fast-changing conditions where delayed or incomplete information becomes its own hazard.
Why are Safety Leaders Moving Beyond Single-point Solutions and Thinking in Layers?
The new at-risk worker needs more than a policy binder and a phone tree. They need reliable check-ins, easier escalation, better visibility into changing conditions, and simpler ways to report hazards before they become incidents. OSHA says leading indicators can help prevent workplace injuries and illnesses, reduce incident-related costs, and improve organizational performance. ASSP likewise says organizations should go beyond incident rates and other failure metrics and use leading metrics tied to business impact. That is the core strategic case for connected worker technology: it helps organizations act sooner, not just report better afterward.
The strongest safety programs are now being built around a few practical capabilities.
How Do Connected Worker Tools Improve Safety Outcomes?
Connected worker tools help organizations move from reactive safety management to more proactive protection. By improving visibility into worker status, location, hazards, and changing field conditions, these tools make it easier to identify risk earlier and respond more quickly when something goes wrong. Features such as check-ins, escalation workflows, hazard reporting, geofenced alerts, contractor oversight, and connected emergency response all contribute to a safety program that is more responsive, more informed, and better suited to mobile and off-site work.
That is especially important as the definition of the at-risk worker continues to expand. Across industries, employers are managing more dispersed teams, more work in unfamiliar environments, and more situations where a delayed response can increase consequences. Municipal operations, oilfield services, emergency response, land management, and property management may look different on paper, but they share a growing need for better field visibility and faster intervention.
That is why connected worker safety is attracting more attention: not because it is new, but because it is increasingly necessary.
Learn more about Connected Worker technology.
Are You Interested in Learning About New Ways to Improve Worker Safety?
If your organization is rethinking how it protects lone, mobile or otherwise at-risk workers, now is the time to evaluate whether your safety program is built for where risk actually happens today, not where it used to happen.
Give us a call or send an email. We’d welcome the opportunity to speak with you.
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FAQ
What is an at-risk worker?
An at-risk worker is any employee whose job exposes them to elevated safety risk because of isolation, mobility, unfamiliar environments, public interaction, changing conditions, or delayed access to help. That can include traditional lone workers, but also mobile field staff, inspectors, municipal workers, property teams, and others who work away from direct supervision or immediate support.
How is an at-risk worker different from a lone worker?
A lone worker is typically someone who works without direct contact with coworkers, meaning they may not be seen or heard by another person for a period of time. An at-risk worker is a broader category. Someone may face elevated risk because of where they work, who they interact with, or how quickly help can reach them, even if they are not always alone.
Why are safety leaders investing in connected worker technology?
Safety leaders are investing because work is becoming more mobile, more dispersed, and harder to supervise in real time. Research from the National Safety Council’s Work to Zero initiative highlights growing interest in technologies such as lone worker monitoring, geofencing, and real-time location tools because they can improve visibility, speed response, and strengthen overall safety performance.
What protections matter most for the new at-risk worker?
The most important protections usually include reliable check-ins, clear escalation procedures, location-aware alerts, fast access to emergency support, and simple field reporting for hazards and near misses. CCOHS recommends check-in procedures and risk assessments for off-site and lone work, while NSC identifies location tracking and geofencing as valuable tools for monitoring risk and supporting emergency response.
What are leading indicators in worker safety?
Leading indicators are proactive measures that help organizations identify and address risk before an injury or incident occurs. OSHA says leading indicators can play a vital role in preventing worker fatalities, injuries, and illnesses. Examples can include hazard reports, near-miss reports, corrective actions completed, training completion, and check-in compliance.
Why are leading indicators important for lone and mobile workers?
They matter because risks involving lone and mobile workers can develop quickly and may be missed if organizations rely only on lagging data such as incident counts. Leading indicators help safety teams spot gaps earlier, strengthen prevention efforts, and take action before a missed check-in, hazard exposure, or escalating condition turns into a more serious event.
Which industries benefit most from connected worker safety solutions?
Connected worker strategies are relevant across many industries, not just traditional high-hazard sectors. CCOHS guidance applies broadly to off-site and lone work, and NSC safety technology research reflects use cases across hazardous and field-based environments. In practice, any industry with dispersed workers, remote tasks, public-facing field activity, or delayed response risk can benefit.
Why does safety strategy need to extend beyond the traditional jobsite?
Because risk no longer exists only at fixed worksites. Many workers now move between locations, enter unfamiliar environments, or perform tasks away from supervisors and coworkers. CCOHS specifically notes that precautions are needed when workers are alone and away from a central office, which means safety programs must account for mobility, communication, and response time, not just site-based controls.