WE MAKE WORKING ALONE SAFER

Safer Lone Working - Social Housing

The Social Housing sector employs lone workers carrying out varied roles, such as Housing Officers and Support Workers, who regularly work out in the community. Consequently, just by doing their jobs, Housing Professionals face physical or verbal abuse on a daily basis. This ‘People Risk', arising from social interaction, ranges from being spat and sworn at, to being threatened, attacked, and everything in between. The potential for risk could be worsened as lone workers don’t have the normal networks of support, which may result in such occurrences being unreported or undetected for a significant amount of time.

There are various situations that housing association workers will be required to be out of the office, lone working is unavoidable and can often be on a daily basis. Social housing staff can be working on different sites in the community visiting a range of residents including those with mental health issues, the elderly and the vulnerable. Getting out into the community is an important part of a social housing professional’s day-to-day operations; however, on occasion frontline staff can find their safety under threat from possible physical violence, verbal abuse or intimidation, animal attack or attack against property. As well as this, there is also the associated risk involved with travelling between appointments; road accidents, slips, trips and falls, etc.

The level of risk that staff face can vary, from visiting empty or remote properties to being at risk of verbal or physical abuse whilst dealing with confrontational clients. Lone worker policies and appropriate training can be invaluable when it comes to protecting your staff and providing a suitable duty of care. A well-informed and aptly trained team significantly reduces risk; but for those times when training is not enough, there are other options.

The market leading Identicom device, supplied as part of the SoloProtect solution, is designed to offer dedicated support, the fastest possible response and peace of mind to those working alone. It’s the most widely used dedicated device of its kind in the United Kingdom and there are currently in excess of 200,000 lone workers using Identicom worldwide. It’s specifically designed as an identity card holder in order to be easy to wear and discreet to use and is equipped with a 'Red Alert' function allowing a lone worker to capture the audio of potentially abusive situations, where their safety may be compromised. At the push of a button, a 'Red Alert' is triggered and a trained SoloProtect Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) Operator is listening to a possible abusive or violent situation on your behalf. The audio will also be recorded and can be used as evidence if verbal and/or physical abuse occurs.

By investing in a brand new, purpose built ARC that meets new, more stringent European Standards, SoloProtect have ensured the very best infrastructure and staffing are readily available. In November 2015, SoloProtect was audited and approved against BS8591 and EN50518, making Suzy Lamplugh House the first dedicated lone worker ARC in Europe to be accredited against both standards.

The SoloProtect ARC uses state-of-the-art alarm handling technology, ensuring that audio from a lone worker alarm is presented to our operators quickly and efficiently. Every second counts in a genuine 'Red Alert' situation; so enabling a highly trained operator to listen to, assess, and record the lone worker alarm as soon as possible is imperative. Customers can have confidence that when a lone worker needs help, SoloProtect is able to provide the best possible response.

Employers have a duty to safeguard their workers when their jobs take them away from the workplace. Without lone worker protection an organization is in danger of experiencing serious financial reparations, it could receive negative brand perception which could also affect its ability to attract the best staff and customers.

Health and Safety legislation in the U.K. is enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) - any accidents, injuries or deaths of lone workers investigated by the HSE and found to be resultant of breaches in either The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, or The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, may lead to significant fines, (and concurrent criminal proceedings if applicable), being placed on an organisation.

Benefits of using SoloProtect:

• Peace of mind for a lone worker.• Helps an employer to demonstrate they’re meeting a duty of care to staff, and significantly reduces financial risk to a business or its brand value.• Identity badge style ensures it’s not an obvious piece of technology.• Its wearability ensures it’s easy for a lone worker to integrate into their outfit, uniform or apparel (various attachments for wear now available).• Identicom is discreet to use - a worker doesn't have to overtly reach into their pocket or bag, and can use the device without breaking eye contact with an aggressor.• Identicom enables SoloProtect to capture verbal abuse and threatening behaviour.• Two-way audio on automatic 'Man Down' (incapacitation) alerts. • Location data information sent to Alarm Receiving Centre during a 'Red Alert'.

Tel: 0114 399 6000www.SoloProtect.com/uk

info@SoloProtect.com