Five lone working devices, available over a five year period for lone workers, are on offer to third sector partners as the community benefit part of their recently awarded Fife Council contract.
The devices are essentially fobs with an SOS button. For more information click here
In brief the fob provides:
RED ALERT CALL ACTIVATION
Red Alert calls are activated by simply pressing the prominent SOS button in the middle of the device for 2 seconds. This will simultaneously activate a 2 way audio call (one way audio can also be configured) to the Alarm Response Centre and transmit the devices GPS location.
To end a call the lone worker simply presses the SOS button again.
YELLOW ALERT CALL ACTIVATION
Yellow Alert voice memo calls can be recorded by lone workers by simply pressing the call button on the top left corner of the SOS Fob. This will enable lone workers to leave detailed contextual information on the Safe Hub system which can be accessed by the ARC or Fife managers/supervisors in the event of an emergency.
For example, a lone worker may choose to specify the property number they are attending and the floor if lone working in a large block of flats. Leaving a Yellow Alert will also transmit the GPS location.
GPS LOCATION
When using the SOS Fob, the lone worker’s GPS location is discreetly reported to the system every ten minutes as standard (but this can be customised), and whenever a Red, Yellow or Worker Down Alert is raised. The Ublox GPS chipset in SOS Fob is accurate to 2.5 metres or less in normal conditions.
WORKER DOWN FALL DETECTION
Worker Down provides protection against slips, trips or falls using an impact sensor inside the SOS Fob. Impact sensitivity can be customised up or down on individual devices, or even deactivated entirely to provide the best fit for every lone worker using the device.
If an impact is detected, the device will vibrate and provide audible alerts to notify the user if the activation is accidental or unintended.
A key benefit which the SOS Fob provides over competitor devices is the option for a user to deactivate an accidental alert by simply pressing the SOS button within 10 seconds. This avoids any nuisance alerts and directly increases adoption by lone workers, perhaps after a fall or incident.
If an alert is not cancelled, Worker Down then automatically raises an alert with the ARC and operatives will attempt to contact the worker. If they can’t be reached the ARC will follow the next steps in the person's individual escalation procedure. If there is a false alarm, the worker can simply tell the ARC to ‘stand down’.
If you are interested in finding out more or taking up this offer please get in touch with FVA on 0800 389 6046 or by
The above is From Fife Voluntary Action Bulletin 17 October 2019