Working alone, or late at night can be very intimidating, what if something happens and you need assistance? How can you be sure that somebody knows where you are and that you need help? It is well documented that lone workers are more vulnerable to threats and physical assault than others in the work force.
It is estimated that today in the UK 6.8 million people spend all or part of their working day alone. According to the British Retailers Consortium Crime Survey 2007-08, violence and verbal attacks on staff working in the retail sector is escalating. Figures show that one shop worker is attacked or threatened every minute of the shopping day.
Extended trading hours have increased the exposure to risk. Reduced staffing levels for late-night trading and problems with drunken customers make things even worse. Opening and closing of stores is identified as particularly risky times from reports of incidents. Closing a store late at night is much worse than closing in the early evening. It also means that night shift staff, such as shelf fillers have to travel to or from work at later hours when access to public transport or even use of their own cars may be more risky.
Employers understand that they have a duty of care to vulnerable employees and most will be proactive in providing lone workers with their own personal security device.
Products such as SitexOrbis Lone Worker Protection offer an easy to use and reliable solution. Using an existing mobile or smartphone, workers who are in distress or simply concerned can press a single key to instantly alert the emergency services.
- Red Alert key to be set up on mobiles to speed dial operators at the Lone Worker Response Centre
- An Amber Alert key to be set up to enable users to record their likely whereabouts
- 2 Way communication
- On-screen satellite and base-station mapping so users can be located
- A voice channel for operators to listen and assess situations
- Discrete alarm activation
- 24/7 operator support
- Audio recordings for incidents for use in courts
The UK based response centre is managed by SitexOrbis and emergency calls are handled 24/7, 365 days a year by a team of operators. The operators at the response centre are highly experienced and several are ambulance trained. Once an SOS call is received they will take appropriate action and can stay on-the-line until the issue has been resolved.
The experience and professionalism of SitexOrbis has won them the authority to dial the emergency services direct throughout the country. Mapping technology enables the operators to give the emergency services the location of the incident within up to five metres accuracy for lone workers with GPS phones.
For lone workers who do not have GPS phones, the screen maps show where the call was made and is verified by retrieving messages left by lone workers. This gives the emergency services the location of the lone worker or by speaking directly with an operator the location can also be confirmed.
Many of the incidents are recorded and many of these audio recordings have helped to gain numerous convictions by providing irrefutable evidence that perpetrators were at the scene of the crime and conveying the full force of the attack better than any written report.