Securi-Guard has issued its alarm engineers with tracking devices as protection, particularly during out of hours call-outs to remote locations.
The company has been using nine TomTom Webfleet tracking devices to monitor the safety of its security officers in the key-holding and alarm response section of the company since 2008.
Now an extra ten units of the TomTom Pro 9150 model have been issued to Securi-Guard’s engineers, who are responsible for maintaining, repairing and servicing alarms.
Colin Wicks, Health and Safety/Training Officer at Securi-Guard, said: “Obviously we take the protection of all our staff at work very seriously indeed and clearly there are particular risks to those who are called on to work alone and out of hours.
“Following a risk assessment, we have decided to extend this vehicle tracking scheme to our alarm engineers as well. Not only does it help us fulfil our duty of care to our staff, it will also deliver a reduction in costs and improve customer service.”
The Tom Tom tracking system uses both GPS and SMS technology obtained from three orbiting satellites to monitor the location of an engineer’s vehicle – and it is accurate to within 10 metres, the Plymouth-based firm says.
Whenever an engineer is sent to a job, the work order is sent to the device which then navigates him to the location using the quickest possible route. Using live traffic information it can avoid traffic delays and congestion, saving time and money.
It also enables Securi-Guard to dispatch the nearest engineer to a call-out and better manage workflows. Each engineer has a personal PIN ; the device monitors his every moment from the time he leaves for the job to when he safely returns home following its completion.
The engineer is required to update his work status and if at any stage he fails to do this it alerts Securi-Guard’s dedicated lone worker monitoring team, who will then know the precise location of the vehicle if the engineer then fails to respond to a phone call.
“Because of the accuracy of the system we are using, it means we can send breakdown assistance or emergency services to the exact location,” added Colin.
“This means we can save time and respond quickly, which could make all the difference if one of our engineers happens to be at serious risk.”
