ALONE

Steven Cesare, Ph.D.

A landscaper from California called me the other day to talk about the possibility of having a policy that could hopefully prevent the reoccurrence of a harrowing experience she recently encountered while at work.

It was a normal workday. The field employees had left for the day; the yard was empty. The owner and managers were working remotely from home, and from their Company vehicles as part of their commute. That roster, left the three remaining employees in the main office conducting normal business operations. Atypically, one of the employees had a pre-arranged appointment necessitating she leave work at 3:00 p.m. One of the other two employees ended her shift at 4:30 p.m. and predictably left work on time.

And then there was one.

At 4:40 p.m., with the yard gate open, and the main office door unlocked, there was a knock on the door. Upon hearing the knock, the lone employee, suddenly and emotionally realized she was alone.

Like, really, “alone.”

Since business hours were still open, until 5:00 p.m., the dutiful employee nervously approached the main office door. Nothing to worry about, right? It was probably just a delivery driver dropping something off, requiring the obligatory signature approval, who would then be on his way. No harm; no foul.

It was not a delivery driver.

She opened the main office door and there stood a strange man, who just looked at her in silence. When asked what he wanted, his silent leer continued.

The lone employee shut the door, locked it, and called the business owner who instructed her to call the police, who in turn responded that due to Defund the Police efforts, no assistance would be provided. She called her husband, who arrived within 45 minutes, allowing them to leave the workplace together.

“Yes.” The gate should have been closed.

“Yes.” The office door should have been locked.

“Yes.” Even with those standard precautions, the threatening man could have still confronted her while she approached her vehicle after 5:00 p.m.

If so, she would now have been outside. Alone.

In similar fashion, I know multiple companies that have like-minded policies regarding their Mechanic. In specific, their policies stipulate that a Mechanic must not be in the yard/shop “alone” with the gate open or unlocked, to guard against intrusion, gangs, theft, or worse. Along those same lines, it is not uncommon for companies to adopt policies restricting their Mechanic from ever working under a vehicle while alone, not only out of fear of interpersonal vulnerability, but also out of avoiding a potential hazard that something could fall on the supine Mechanic leading to possible injury, incapacitation, or immobility.

Does your company allow employees to come into the office on weekends to “get caught up?” Or how about a yard employee who works alone on Saturdays sharpening lawn mower blades, conducting yard maintenance, or doing shop record keeping? After all, it is called an Employee Safety Program, isn’t it?

If it is really about Employee Safety, should employees really be doing those tasks “alone?”

The surveillance cameras will not help them after the fact, since the surveillance cameras will only capture them while they were “alone.”

Until they’re not.

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