On-site and off-site lone worker alarms

1

Table of Contents

Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. 1

Introduction........................................................................................................................ 2

What is a lone worker?.................................................................................................... 2

Typical examples of lone workers and their roles ....................................................... 2

How are Lone Workers protected legally? ................................................................... 3

Consequences of failing to meet the legislation.......................................................... 3

How will the person be supervised?.............................................................................. 4

Lone Worker Alarm Systems.......................................................................................... 4

GSM S Lone Worker Handset........................................................................................ 5

Alarm Management Software (GSS) ............................................................................ 6

Location detection ............................................................................................................ 7

Summary ........................................................................................................................... 8

ANT Lone Worker Systems ............................................................................................ 8

ANT Telecom’s Profile..................................................................................................... 9

2

Introduction

Accidents can happen at work that are almost impossible to legislate for. Though whenaccidents happen to staff working alone the consequences to that person can be fatal.

What is a lone worker?

“Lone working maybe defined as any work activity, which is intended to be carried out inisolation from other workers by an individual or small team of people. The work activityshould last for some time.” Source LHC Factsheet 2000.

The only issue with this definition is the time that the lone worker is in isolation for, is notquantified and is merely left as “should last some time.” Is that 10mins, 2 hours, 7 hoursfor the employee to be deemed a “lone worker”? Where’s the cut off point?

However, legally this is inconsequential. The issue is not only the “time” the activity lastsfor, but the level of risk the lone worker is exposed for. This is discussed further, later inthis document.

Typical examples of lone workers and their roles

People in fixed establishments where:

• only one person works on the premises, e.g. in small workshops, petrol stations,kiosks, shops and also home workers;

• people work separately from others, e.g. in factories, warehouses, someresearch and training establishments, leisure centres or fairgrounds;

• people work outside normal hours, eg cleaners, security, special production,maintenance or repair staff etc.

Mobile workers working away from their fixed base:

• on construction, plant installation, maintenance and cleaning work, electricalrepairs, lift repairs, painting and decorating, vehicle recovery etc

• agricultural and forestry workers

• service workers, eg rent collectors, postal staff, social workers, home helps,district nurses, pest control workers, drivers, engineers, architects, estate agents,sales representatives and similar professionals visiting domestic and commercialpremises.

3

How are Lone Workers protected legally?

Although, there is no general legal prohibition on working alone, the broad duties of theHealth and Safety at Work and The Management of Health and Safety at workRegulations still apply. Such bodies stipulate that it is the employers’ responsibility toensure the health and safety of employees whilst at work and assess the risk toemployees to which they are exposed.

Therefore, for employees working alone the risk assessment should help to decide whatcontrol measures are taken and the level of supervision required. In some high-riskcases the risk assessment might show that it is not possible for the work to done safelyby a lone worker and at least one other supervisor must be present at all times. In otherlow-risk cases it might be deemed by the risk assessment that no supervision is requiredat all.

However, there are plenty examples of lone working which fall between the two. In suchcases some form of supervision to protect lone workers is required, how this is achievedis down to each individual company.

Consequences of failing to meet the legislation

The cost to companies that fail to provide the necessary protection for lone workersmight be realised as follows:

• Being sued by the individual and HSE for not providing adequate protection• Legal fees and solicitors costs as consequence of being sued• Poor moral amongst colleagues which will probably mean poor work efficiency.• Bad press for the company. HSE is already naming and shaming companies

convicted of safety offences.

There is also the future risk of the corporate manslaughter bill, which is being pushed bythe TUC. ‘Employees must know that if their actions or inaction leads to the death ofsomeone in their employment, they will be treated by the courts as if they havecommitted any other form of manslaughter’ quote from Hazards (TUC magazine) Issue87

4

How will the person be supervised?

There are different ways in which people working alone can be monitored. The level ofsupervision undertaken is dependent upon the risk the lone worker is exposed to,discovered by the risk assessment. The higher the level of risk, the greater thesupervision required.

According to the HSE document lone workers can be monitored in several ways, whichinclude:

• supervisors periodically visiting and observing people working alone.

• regular contact between the lone worker and supervision using either atelephone or radio.

• automatic warning devices which operate if specific signals are not receivedperiodically from the lone worker.

• other devices designed to raise the alarm in the event of an emergency andwhich are operated manually or automatically.

Lone Worker Alarm Systems

Many companies supervise lone workers by implementing a lone worker alarm systemfor numerous reasons that include:

• More cost effective than assigning two men to handle activities for one person• More flexibility when allocating man power to specific activities• Can be more reliable and more cost effective than allowing the process to be

handled manually.

Lone worker alarm systems can be something simple like a device with a panic buttonthat raises an alarm. Good systems have means and ways of raising alarmsautomatically in the event the user is knocked unconscious.

Once an alarm has been triggered the alarm is routed to someone so that they can actupon it. As it is not possible to have someone monitoring alarms especially out of hours,good systems can send and escalate alarm information to multiple parties and off sitetoo.

It is also important that an alarm trail showing, when alarms were triggered, where theywere forwarded etc. be stored for review and for audit trail purposes.

5

ANT Telecom has comprehensive range of lone worker alarm solutions utilising variousplatforms for example DECT and paging. For further information regarding thosesystems please contact us.

GSM S Lone Worker Handset

The ANT Telecom GSM S lone worker mobile phone has to be one of the most flexiblelone worker devices available suitable for almost all different types of lone worker. Itworks off the GSM network (Orange, 02, Vodafone etc) and therefore can operateanywhere in Europe providing it has coverage.

The lone worker functionality of the handset works as follows:

Upon alarm activation from a handset (panic button, tilt, etc) an SMS text message issent out to a dedicated mobile telephone. This SMS message is a simple notification thatthere has been a possible incident with that handset user and includes the time and dateit was sent.

Immediately after sending the SMS message the phone can do one of two things:

• Dial two pre-determined numbers in sequence and on a loop until the call isanswered.

• Dials a number that starts a process whereby up to 8 stored numbers will becalled. The recipient when answering the call will hear a pre-recorded messageand will confirm receipt of message by keying a specific digit that will stop thedialer calling the next number. This avoids the call being stopped when takenby answering machines or wrong numbers.

The handset has all the necessary functions toraise manual and automatic emergency alarmmessages – panic button, tilt, no-motion andtime check monitoring.

As the handsets work off the GSM networks andrequires no central infrastructure for the units towork, this lone worker device is cost-effectiveeven for a small number of users and suitablefor lone workers working both on-site and off–site.

The handset itself is light but robust and actsvery much like a mobile phone. It can receivecalls and also make outgoing calls to two pre-determined destinations.

Emergency panicbutton

Call number 1

Call number 2

GSM S Phone with Tilt, No-motionand time check alarms

Emergency panicbutton

Call number 1

Call number 2

GSM S Phone with Tilt, No-motionand time check alarms

6

Upon answer both parties can talk as per a normal telephony call. In the event the loneworker is knocked unconscious the loudspeaker microphone is opened so that therecipient can identify background noise and possibly their location.

The solution comes complete with configuration software so that an administrator canselect the most suitable alarms setting for each lone worker user.

Alarm Management Software (GSS)

The Alarm Management Software is a simple easy to use application that configures theGSM S handsets, displays alarm information and shows which lone workers are workingat any one time. When an alarm is triggered the software will also detail the users’location, which can be highlighted on a site map or a road map if the user is off site.This application is necessary when numerous lone worker handsets are required.

When an alarm is activated an alarm message appears on the central PC as shownbelow. The GSM handset will then initiate a telephone call to the person monitoring thealarms or trigger an auto-dialer with 8 pre-determined numbers as described above.

When alarms are not closed down withincertain time frames, reminder alarms arereported.

After each alarm is reported theadministrator is forced to add a commentto clear the alarm down.

This information is stored on the databasefor audit trail purposes.

7

Location detection

The location of the user can be detected and displayed on the Alarm Managementsoftware. For on-site location detection site beacons are required, whereby thebeacon’s location is transmitted back to the central software via the GSM S handset inan emergency.

Similarly for off-site location a GPS car transceiver continuously updates the GSM SHandset of its location and transmits the exact location in the event an alarm istriggered. The car’s location is displayed on a road map as shown below.

Map showing location of the lone worker user and on the right thestatus of processed alarm messages stored for review.

8

Summary

It can be difficult for companies to tackle the issue of staff working alone as there isalways a balance between providing the necessary protection for staff against the costsof implementing a solution.

Furthermore, companies need to consider their long term requirements and whether thesolution implemented today will satisfy their growing demands once a system isinstalled.

The GSM S Lone Worker Phone from ANT Telecom tackles such issues. The unitworks off the GSM networks and requires no central infrastructure for the handset towork. This makes it cost effective for a small number of phones, although just assuitable for handling large number of users with the optional alarm managementsoftware, should companies’ requirements expand.

It is an essential safety device for employees that find themselves working alone eitheron or off-site. With tilt, no-motion sensors and time check monitoring it has all thenecessary sensors to raise automatic alarms in the event the user is knockedunconscious. With optional location detection packages it is possible to detail the user’slocation in environments whereby it is important to find the user quickly.

ANT Telecom has vast experience in implementing lone worker alarm solutions and theGSM S phone is one of many lone worker solutions available. For further informationregarding this or other solutions please contact us and speak with one of our salesconsultants.

ANT Lone Worker Systems

The GSM S phone is one of a many products within our portfolio that provide protectionfor employees that work alone. The other products are briefly described below.

ANT DECT provides on-site mobile voice communication allowing users to make andreceive internal and external telephone calls at anytime, anywhere on site. The loneworker DECT phones can raise alarms both manually and automatically based on tilt,no-motion and time check. By integrating DECT with building and process managementsystems (e.g. fire, burglar and SCADA) users can receive emergency information on thephone the moment an incident occurs, anywhere on-site.

ANT Paging systems allow communication in the form of both text messages andspeech with two way pagers. Lone worker speech pagers are capable of raisingmanual and automatic alarm based on tilt, no-motion and time check. Similarly toDECT, paging systems can also integrate to building and process management systemsso that alarm information can be reported to users as when incidents occur.

Automated check call system allows users to receive check calls intermittentlythroughout the day on their existing desktop, DECT or mobile phone. Users set upcheck calls by simply dialling into the system and following the automated prompts toregister how frequently they’d like to receive a check call. Once registered the systemcalls the user and prompts them to confirm they’re ok by entering a short pin code. In

9

the event the user fails to respond the server will raise the alarm. Users can also recordonto the server the location that they’ll be working in.

For further information regarding these products please visit our websitewww.anttele.com or contact us on 01895 838450.

ANT Telecom’s Profile

ANT Telecommunication is a system integrator that specialises in providing tailoredcommunication solutions for industry, commerce, retail, finance, transport and insurance,government, hotel and social environments.

For over 20 years, we have met a variety of individual requirements in various areas.Our versatility speaks for itself with a broad range of customers across all marketsectors., including London Underground, AstraZeneca and others.

Our portfolio comprises Mobility solutions using DECT and Paging including LoneWorker technology, Industrial Wireless LAN technology, Traditional and IP Telephonysolutions. As a system integrator, our experience enables us to integrate our solutionsinto our customer’s bespoke environment.

We offer a broad range of services including Consultancy, Design & Development, Sales& Account Management as well as Project Management, Implementation andMaintenance. We also provide various financial options, such as rental and leasing.

Our technology partners are carefully chosen to meet our customers’ high standards andwe maintain our own high levels of quality by following ISO 9001 procedures.One of our greatest strengths is our highly motivated workforce, who combine technicalknow-how with a strong customer focus to deliver an excellent service.

ANT History

1982 ANT Telecommunication was formed.1992 ANT taken over by Bosch Telecom.2000 Bosch Telecom was sold and Tenovis was formed.2000 ANT Telecommunication was reformed with the same personnel that spanned

the last 20 years, based at the same offices at Bosch in Denham. ANT’s Portfolioconsists of the Tenovis Media Contact Centre range, the I33 and I55 PBX’s aswell as paging and private mobile radio solution.

2002 ANT Telecom awarded Premier Tenovis Partner Status.2004 ANT incorporates Avocado services and sales and becomes accredited as Mitel

System Developer Network (MSDN) partner2005 ANT is appointed by ASC as its UK premium partner

For more information about ANT Telecom please visit www.anttele.com.

ANT Telecommunications Limited

Broadwater Park, North Orbital Road

Denham, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB9 5HF

Tel 01895 838450. Fax 01895 838451

Web www.anttele.com

All trademarks are recognized