Understanding Lone Worker Man Down Protection
Safety Communications that Save Lives
Anyone working by themselves can be injured. And ensuring that help is available when an accident or emergency happens is critical in enabling help will be available and might well save lives. So achieving adequate cover and protection is important - especially when its the law in the UK and Europe. Failure to take the necessary precautions can result in massive fines, but losing life due to inadequate communications is unforgivable.
Then there is the aspect of employees being attacked by customers or patients and we're sure you can think of other scenarios where attacks happen all the time. Unfortunately staff are not always protected properly.
Lone worker equipment - GPS now on two-way radios
Recent developments with lone workers includes the ability to
track a GPS signal to help to locate someone who is injured.
Radios like the
Hytera PD715 are an excellent example of the
current technologies included in the unit. Usually viewed on a
PC screen for tracking purposes when there is any question
of a problem, but could be monitored all of the time.
Using such a radio with any lone worker increases the ability to monitor the employee easily. It can be set up (as many units can these days) so that the member of staff has to press the transmit button after a time period. If the person does not press the timed button then others are informed that the employee has not responded so further investigatory procedures are followed. The Lone worker time intervals can be custom set up to 120 minutes.
This is typical of lone worker radios. But there are even more add-ons and understanding that can turn those solutions in to a much more flexible solution is an asset. One unit, the RSU1 developed by our company, actually allows the radio when there is an emergency, to call a landline, email someone, or send an SMS text that advises support teams that there is a problem. The RSU1 also can easily be integrated in to building management solutions to monitor temperature, gate open or close, fire alarms and a whole range of other parameters. Variation will trigger a notification. The RSU1 is only available from LRS.
Man down equipment
In the case of a 'man down'
situation it may be that the employee pas passed out, or
something else has happened that stops the employee from
answering in the way that they should and they are
incapacitated. The man down systems today are advanced
enough to determine that although the employee is fallen
over and on the ground, that it can determine if those are
abnormal movements. Man down uses a tilt-switch
(special motion sensors) in the radio which can detect and
alarm in the following ways:
•
user is not moving
• user is moving
more than what is considered to be normal
• radio is positioned in different angle than usual for
certain period of time
Before the man down alarm
activates it sends a pre-alert to the user that the alarm is
about to go off to prevent false alarms. Once the alarm goes
off it will send an alarm to the one or all other users
alerting them via verbal announcement or onscreen display
that that particular user is in need of urgent assistance.
Another feature is audio
monitoring, where others are able to hear what is happening
where the man down radio is located and determine if there
are problems to be resolved. Also on the unit are (usually)
a coloured button which is an emergency button. If the
employee is disabled but can press that button, others are
informed to give assistance.
These are simple man
down features, but they do often save lives.
Staff
attack solutions
The same emergency button for man down
above can easily be used for emergencies where staff are
attacked. The employee simply presses the emergency button
for assistance by colleagues.
Additional enhancements
RSU1 (remote signaling unit)
Our RSU1 changes the simple rudimentary aspects of lone
worker and man down solutions and enables the system to work
in a way that no other lone worker radio ever could by
itself. Contact us directly to ensure your staff are
protected and we can get you up to speed with the right
exact radio for your predicament. Call 01782 537000
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