Support in the field
August 1st 2005 Agrowing number of lone workers are operating in sometimes remote and potentially hazardous situations throughout the UK, with an estimated 20.1 million in Europe. As the number increases, so do the legal responsibilities of employers.
Health and Safety issues for lone workers can be a difficult challenge for employers. Since 1998, Argyll Telecom has been a leading proponent of technology solutions to support employers and their lone worker employees. The company offers a suite of products and services designed to support lone workers through monitoring and managing their time at risk, and providing them with the capacity to summon immediate assistance in emergency situations. Over 15 000 commercial users within national corporations, charities, the NHS, Local Authorities, and other Government Departments throughout the UK already trust its services, and it has recently launched two brand new devices, MobiCare and XtremeCare.
Legally, employers must identify potential hazards, assess the risks involved, and put measures in place to minimise these. However, as well as legal obligations, employers are also recognising a moral commitment towards their staff, showing compassion towards their needs. This also means taking steps to provide as much risk assessment, reassurance, and support as possible to help put employees at ease when facing remote or potentially uncomfortable situations at work.
Ongoing supervision is a key solution, and the deployment of Argyll Telecom’s communications technology, that provides monitoring and live staff support twenty-four hours a day, all year round, is an intelligent means of achieving this.
The backbone for the devices is CommuniCare, a telephone-based monitoring service that can be customised to summon emergency assistance at any place of work. Designed in consultation with the police, end users, unions, and management dedicated to raising awareness of violence and aggression in the workplace, the system monitors users’ safety, and allows them to establish a schedule for the day using any touch-tone phone, including mobile handsets. Issued with a PIN, a lone worker can record their location and whom they are meeting, collect voice messages, change contact details, and set up alerts for making contact with the control centre. CommuniCare expects updates based on the schedule, and if contact is broken a member of Argyll Telecom’s 24-hour control room team initiates local protocols to re-establish the employee’s position and assess their safety. Critically, in panic situations, a ‘hot-key’ opens up a recorded 2-way speech link with a live operator who locates the handset using satellite tracking or mobile network location technologies. The operator also retrieves the current log-on location, records the entire conversation, and, if the situation dictates, summons immediate assistance using existing links with the emergency services.
Argyll Telecom has recently launched two devices that utilise this service. MobiCare is a very discreet, credit card sized, mobile phone device, with optional Global Positioning Satellite (GPS). It is well suited to staff requiring health & safety cover, but, thanks to the limited requirements for mobile phone use, it enables costs to be controlled. XtremeCare is specifically geared for the outdoor market and hazardous sports or occupations.
Incorporating GPS for pinpointing locations to an accuracy of less than 10 metres, it is completely waterproof and designed to be worn discreetly upon the user’s arm or leg, leaving both hands completely free. If difficulties are encountered, a simple squeeze of the unit activates an emergency call and response to the precise location.
Already widely used, IdentiCare uses a device designed to look like a standard industry ID card holder, and can therefore be easily introduced into an organisation. It can be activated discreetly, and remain attached to the user at all times, regardless of whether they have removed their jacket or bag. The lanyard hides a clever ‘rip’ alarm, so in the instance that the device be forcibly removed from the wearer, an alert is automatically sent to the control room.
Argyll Telecom is working closely with CFSMS and implementing their standards for lone worker monitoring within the UK. Amongst the company’s many clients is the Environment Agency, which uses CommuniCare to assist its 2000 plus lone workers who can sometimes find themselves in confrontational or hazardous situations. The system is also already in use in many NHS organisations, to monitor and support staff who are sometimes faced with difficult and abusive patients, and a deal with Lancashire Ambulance Service has cemented the firm’s position as the provider of the most comprehensive range of monitoring systems to the UK’s health services.
Commenting on the partnership, Phil Woodford, General Manager of Commercial Services at Lancashire Ambulance Service said: “As a client of Argyll Telecom, we have seen the quality of its products and customer service at first hand. We therefore had no hesitation in working with the firm to jointly promote and implement its systems to increase levels of safety across other NHS organisations. While the technology is first class and extremely robust, we and Argyll Telecom both recognise the need to train individuals in its effective use, particularly in identifying and responding to threatening situations. We offer this training as part of each package and work with NHS clients to map out the best approach to this, whether it be at our training facilities or on-site.” In addition to these integrated solutions, Argyll Telecom also offers Seeker™, the sophisticated mapping service that underpins all of its health and safety solutions, as a separate service. It enables authorised users to accurately pinpoint the location of employees using GPS or standard mobile phone network technology. When employees, vehicles and equipment are out and about, it can provide real-time position and status information, useful to direct individuals, vehicles and equipment. Resource locations are automatically updated using an on-line map. Tom Morton, Managing Director of Argyll Telecom, said: “All of our solutions provide highly effective means of monitoring the safety of lone workers who may be operating in remote areas or open to hazardous situations, providing employers with the latest and best means of increasing employee safety, 24 hours day, 365 days a year. We also provide flexible payment options, making the solutions even easier to implement in a large organisation.” To give organisations the chance to try out the suite of products available, Lancashire Ambulance Service, the NHS Security Management Service, Orange, and Argyll Telecom are running a series of regional workshops during the summer/autumn of 2005. These sessions will offer advice on the options available and allow delegates to try out the technology for themselves. The workshops will cover all aspects of lone working including risk assessments and NHS security local/national policy; hardware and device choices (with the opportunity to see and touch); service options with live demonstrations and a local case study; end user and management training on service and other topics; mobile network capabilities and involvement (including location capabilities; coverage information and government tariffing); and representatives on hand to answer any questions or concerns.
NHS Security Management Service will provide its perspective on the NHS trials of the IdentiCare™ device and feedback results, as well as information about national security policy, the accreditation process of security specialists and suppliers, and advice on tackling other issues.
Further information on these workshops is available at www.argylltelecom.com or www.lancashireambulance.com. More articles from Argyll Telecomm: | 
