Joe works at a roofing company. He (and many of his coworkers) often perform jobs alone or in small groups at various sites. Today, he’s going out on such a job, where he’ll be on the customer’s roof alone for approximately two hours. What if something goes wrong and he has an accident? How will his manager know when he’s completed the task safely or get him help if there’s an incident?
This is only one example of the many possibilities encountered by organizations who use lone workers.
Small groups on remote sites without an on-premises manager face the same danger. If someone is injured, how and when will company leadership be alerted? In the rush to obtain emergency medical services, it may be hours until you’re made aware of the situation.
Even when the job doesn’t seem dangerous, employee safety has become more difficult to manage in our increasingly uncertain world. Organizations have a duty and moral responsibility to look after their employees, whether they’re working from home, in the office or traveling. More frequent acts of terror and violence coupled with a hybrid workforce have created new challenges.
Fortunately, there’s a simple way to know when your workers need help.
Gain a Lifeline with Life Check
To protect your workforce, your communications system has to support your organization’s unique needs. OnSolve® Critical Communications offers security capabilities to ensure employee safety, all from one intuitive interface.
In Joe’s roofing scenario, thanks to the Life Check feature, both he and his foreman can rest assured there’s a virtual safety net in place while Joe’s on the roof by himself.
When he arrives to the jobsite, Joe uses Life Check to set a timed monitoring session for 160 minutes. The timer is clearly displayed within the user interface in case he needs to check his time left. Once his work is complete, he can deactivate the countdown. However, if Joe suffers a fall or injury and is unable to reach his phone, an emergency SOS will automatically activate, and his company will be notified. His manager can then determine he needs assistance, notify the supervisor (if applicable) and take action immediately.
Features such as Life Check are particularly important for organizations with employees who regularly work alone, offsite or outside normal business hours. Whether your people are truck drivers, factory workers, service technicians, social workers, nurses or any professional traveling to a conference, client meeting or event, this technology can help keep them safe.
Cultivate a Safety-First Mindset
Building employee trust and organization-wide situational awareness is all about maintaining an open line of communications in tandem with consistent training and exercises. Supportive technology enables both endeavors, and the investment lets your workers know they can count on you to provide the tools they need.
Reinforcing existing protocols and gaining buy-in to new ones require consistent communication and active engagement. Make sure managers are involved and they regularly reiterate your safety program to their teams. Your employees should be confident in your commitment to their safety and be very familiar with all of the available resources and tools to protect them.
Safety programs aren’t a “one and done” initiative. Plans and tools should be evaluated often to make sure each component is operating as it should and still meets your business needs. Regular assessments are an ideal time to get your teams involved and looking for ways to improve.
Be sure to include workers using the technology in the field, as their first-hand experience is invaluable. A critical communications system equipped with detailed reporting is also essential, as it provides important information for post-audit purposes.
By adding the automated Life Check feature of OnSolve Critical Communications, organizations benefit from:
- Enhanced employee safety and security
- Clear visibility into employee wellness for security teams via immediate alerting if someone’s Life Check expires
- Improved organizational strategy for lone worker safety
Step Up Safety with A Security Suite of Features
Life Check is just one of a suite of employee safety features available through OnSolve Critical Communications, all of which can be accessed by employees via the mobile app.
These additional capabilities make it easier to protect your employees:
SOS: When traveling or working offsite, an employee who has an emergency can activate an SOS that connects them directly to medical services, the local fire department, law enforcement or other emergency services while simultaneously alerting their organization, which can monitor the employee’s status via an interactive map. This is especially helpful when employees are traveling abroad and not familiar with the emergency numbers in that region.
- Joe, a resident in the United States, is traveling in Thailand and experiences a medical emergency where he needs immediate attention. Joe can launch an SOS and be connected with emergency services local to him.
Lookout: Employees are empowered to “see something, say something” when they encounter suspicious activity, persons or objects. When an incident is reported, it triggers a notification to a pre-determined group of recipients who can view, assess and escalate the situation.
- Joe is walking into the office and notices a suspicious person walking around the parking lot looking in car windows. He snaps a photo and submits a LookOut report, allowing security teams to respond.
Check-in: Traveling staff can check themselves in at a given destination (conference, event, customer site, etc.) via a dashboard and self-report their temporary location at any time. This ensures they’re included in geofenced alerts for the area during their stay.
- Joe travels to his organization’s headquarters in Thailand and checks in at his location to make sure he receives any alerts sent to employees located in that area.
Create a Winning Combination
A strong security suite of capabilities provides organizations with a critical communications system that delivers peace of mind to managers and employees. Whether working from home, traveling abroad or going out on a solo job, keeping workers safe is a tall order – and one that seems to get taller by the day. With the right tools, organizations can:
- Achieve around-the-clock status monitoring
- Meet OSHA compliance standards
- Access a post-event audit trail for legal compliance and ongoing process improvement
- Build and maintain employee trust
Even the most vigilant managers can’t be in more than one place at a time. Now they don’t have to be. Check out the OnSolve Critical Communications brochure to learn more about how to keep your workforce safe and secure.
Step Up Worker Safety with OnSolve Critical Communications
Learn more about how OnSolve® Critical Communications offers security capabilities to ensure employee safety, all from one intuitive interface.
