Homegrown app provides lone workers with sense of security

A Greek software company based in the northwestern town of Ioannina is having a global impact thanks to a new app protecting lone workers. "Lone workers" is the term used to describe employees who work in isolation from others, without close or direct supervision of any sort, human or electronic. They include office cleaners, truck drivers, machine operators, maintenance personnel, postal delivery officers and security guards, among many others, and their numbers are rising worldwide. It is estimated, for example, that in the UK alone, lone workers represent 22 percent of the total workforce, due mainly to new technology that allows distance work, coupled with the rising costs of renting and running an office.

The phenomenon is shaking up the labor market but also creating new needs in the area of worker safety. Lone workers often perform tasks that can become routine,...