A personal safety service is providing Brent Council’s front-line lone working staff in north London with 24 hour backup and assistance. The council’s employees can raise the alarm any time via Skyguard’s MySOS personal safety device. Mike Somers, Regeneration Officer for Brent Council said: “Right from the start, we found Skyguard’s advice helpful and informative. The sheer helpfulness from meeting with them and advising us what was best for our needs stood out from all others. The devices are issued to staff working on housing estates and visiting various site locations. They can contact Skyguard’s controllers at any time they are on their visits and the alarm utilises various mobile phone network suppliers to ensure they remain in contact. Some lone working products do not have the facility to do this.”
Given their duty of care towards the safety and wellbeing of their staff, Brent needed a form of personal protection for their lone workers. They required a small, usable personal alarm which enables the user to discreetly raise the alarm should they face any difficulties. MySOS comes with mobile phone and tracking technology. At the touch of a button, employees can call for help. Upon alarm activation, controllers at Skyguard’s 24 hour manned Incident Management Centre can see who’s calling for help. They will use the two-way audio to listen in and assess a situation, talk to and reassure them and start the emergency response. As the MySOS is fitted with GPS tracking, controllers can see the user’s exact position as shown via an on-screen map – for guiding any 999 response to their location. What’s more, all calls and actions are digitally recorded and can be used as legal evidence.
Alarms can also be raised when the MySOS’s ‘Mandown’ feature detects a slip, trip or heavy impact – vital if the employee is unable to call for help themselves.
Skyguard’s service is audited and approved against the British Standard BS8484:2011 and, as such, guarantees the highest level of police response when required. Skyguard will also bypass the 999 emergency system, saving minutes in responding to an emergency.
Skyguard’s Marketing Director, Will Murray, added: “In the past couple of years we’ve witnessed a dramatic change in perception to employee personal protection, especially from local authorities. With legislation continuing to evolve, organisations – be it public or private sector – can no longer afford to ignore the safety and well-being of their lone workers. As a result, we now work with over 75 councils nationwide in safeguarding their lone workers, including many long-term customers, and it’s a number that continues to grow on a monthly basis.”
