Location Track/Find
Keeping track of where your lone workers are is an essential requirement for many organisations. If your staff move from site to site, it’s vital you know where they are at all times. In some cases, you’ll want to be able to pinpoint their exact location within a large worksite.
GPS tracking allows you to send help to the exact location as quickly as possible in situations where every minute counts.
Satellite Coverage
New Zealand has pretty comprehensive cellular phone coverage, but there are still many remote areas where the signal is poor or non-existent.
If your lone workers are likely to be in areas of low signal, a cellular connection won’t be enough. You’ll need a lone worker safety device with satellite coverage to ensure your staff are trackable and contactable at all times.
Two-Way Communications
Staying in touch with your lone workers is an important aspect of health and safety. Two-way messaging can help streamline check-ins, enable workers to call for help if needed, or generally improve efficiency by helping your staff talk to other employees as needed.
Integrated features such as push-to-talk functionality can replace two-way radio systems, which can be problematic and expensive.
Effortless Check-Ins
Implementing a check-in system with your lone workers can be a valuable part of your safety policy. However, making the check-in process simple is essential to boost compliance.
Having to stop what they’re doing to make a check-in phone call can be disruptive. Instead, opt for a lone worker safety device where employees can check-in at the touch of a button.
If a check-in is missed, a sequence of events will be triggered to ensure your worker is safe.
Emergency SOS
Make it as simple as possible for your lone workers to call for help when they need it. While mobile phone apps do offer emergency contact options, they may not be the best option.
Mobile phones have to be remembered, charged, accessed from pockets or bags, unlocked and activated. In a serious situation, your staff may not be able to reach out for help.
Lone worker safety devices with one button emergency or SOS features are simpler to use. These items can be clipped on for freehand use, allowing staff to reach out for assistance at the simple push of a button.
Live Monitoring 24/7
Many of the features in a lone worker safety device are pointless without 24/7 live monitoring. When a worker fails to check-in or an alert is triggered for an emergency situation, a person or team must be ready to spring into action immediately.
Most businesses won’t have the resources to manage this in-house, so it’s vital to select a device paired with a professional, dedicated monitoring service.
This monitoring team is trained to respond appropriately by getting the right help and support to your workers as quickly as possible, in accordance with your organisation’s custom safety procedures and response plans.
Fall Detection
In some cases, your lone worker may not be able to trigger an alarm or call for help. If your employees are likely to be working from height, fall detection features are a necessity in your lone worker safety devices.
These devices can detect a fall while differentiating between other typical types of on the job movement.
If a fall is detected, an alarm is triggered. If your worker doesn’t deactivate the alarm to confirm they’re okay, a response will be triggered to get help to them.
The technology is adjustable to suit different activity levels and roles.
No-Motion Detection
A lack of movement could indicate a serious medical event on the job. A lone worker device with this feature triggers an alarm if no motion is detected for a set amount of time (adjustable per user).
If your worker doesn’t deactivate the alarm, the monitoring team will spring into action.
Gas Detection
Technology can often pick up changes to the environment that humans are unable to detect. Gas detection is one of these areas, and a lone worker safety device with this feature may be indispensable for some industries.
Different types of gas can be detected by a variety of configurable sensors, depending on your requirements. Your worker and monitoring team will be alerted immediately, allowing them to take steps to maximise safe outcomes.
Cloud Connectivity
Cloud connectivity is often an afterthought for a lone worker safety device, but it can make a world of difference in the efficacy of your system.
With cloud connectivity, you won’t need to install software, which means no time-consuming updates that will take your devices offline – and no IT support required!
This is also an important aspect for recording and analysing your data. It means the information is stored securely and is readily available for your team to review.
What Type Of Lone Worker Safety Device Do You Need?
The right kind of lone worker safety device will vary between organisation and role. Once you have a clear idea of your requirements, you can narrow down the most appropriate tool and system for your team.
In many cases, a single device offers multiple features, ensuring your lone workers are covered for a variety of situations.
If you’d like advice and support to choose the right device, contact Direct Safety today. We have a range of customisable solutions designed just for your organisation.