What is BS 8484?

BS 8484 is the British standard for lone worker services and devices, covering how a personal safety alarm is provided, monitored and escalated to police. A lone worker system monitored to BS 8484 by a certificated centre can obtain a police response level normally reserved for confirmed alarm activations.

It exists because a lone worker alarm is a different problem from a building alarm: there is no fixed address, the user is the sensor, and the response needs to reach a person who may be moving.

The standard covers the device, the service around it, how the user is trained, how the monitoring centre verifies an activation, and how it passes the call to the police. Compliance is what makes the police escalation route available.

It is relevant to employers with staff working alone — lettings agents, care and housing staff, engineers, retail managers doing cash runs — and is often part of demonstrating that an employer has met its duty of care.