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LONE WORKER PROTECTION


SAFEGUARDING WITH SATELLITES AND SOFTWARE


Globalstar tells Tomorrow’s Health & Safety how it supported a Scottish council’s efforts to keep its lone workers safe across more than 2,000 square miles of mountainous territory.


In 2010, the health and safety team at Scotland’s Perth & Kinross Council recognised the need to provide reliable communications and emergency support for its lone-working staff. Not only is this important to attract and keep skilled workers, the Council is a public authority, and has a duty of care to keep employees safe.


At 2,041 square miles, Perth & Kinross is the fifth most expansive administrative region in Scotland. It is sparsely populated, and predominantly remote and mountainous. But it’s also very busy. The region sees substantial rural through-traffic between central Scotland and the Highlands, and the area’s many bridges are vital conduits.


Due to the extreme weather and overflowing watercourses, flooding is always a risk, therefore regular monitoring of critical transport infrastructure and waterways is essential.


The Structures & Flooding team often needs to carry out essential and urgent work. Emergency inspections might need to be conducted at any time of day or night, often in hazardous conditions, inclement weather and rugged environments. Furthermore, this is frequently done by lone workers.


So, the council began to research technology options that could help its infrastructure inspectors and flooding specialists to carry out their important work more safely, with the ability to stay in touch with colleagues, even when their work takes them well outside of reliable mobile signals. What’s more, they needed a solution that could help staff summon help in case of accident or injury, and which could swiftly enable first responders to know exactly where they’re needed.


The Council considered several solutions, and conducted tests, including a trial of a solution based on GSM mobile technology. It soon became evident that the reach of mobile was insufficient and unreliable. To get the always-on, ubiquitous connectivity needed to stay in touch with workers operating across far-flung regions of the Council’s territory, the Council realised only satellite technology could deliver.


The Council turned to Edinburgh-based communications technology provider, Trackplot, which specialises in outdoor lone worker monitoring. Trackplot specifically created its solution to safeguard lone workers operating in rural, isolated and hazardous locations. The Trackplot Portal, an interactive online platform, is the control and command centre where lone workers are monitored.


The Trackplot system is integrated with SPOT, a compact and rugged handheld communications


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and safety device from Globalstar, a US-headquartered worldwide specialist in advanced satellite technology. The combination of Trackplot and SPOT – enabled by Globalstar’s fleet of satellites continuously circling the planet 1,414km high in Low-Earth Orbit – soon proved the right solution.


Trackplot enables customers to monitor the location and safety of their workforce in real-time 24/7, with customised escalation procedures and reporting. In Perth & Kinross, council workers in the field send regular ‘OK’ check-in messages via SPOT to the Trackplot Portal so managers know that all’s well. If a worker fails to check-in as expected, the system issues a check-in reminder to the user via SMS and email. If the non- communication continues, then managers and contacts are alerted by the Trackplot system to begin escalation protocols.


Should a worker face an emergency, a simple press of SPOT’s SOS button instantly sends an alert along with the user’s GPS co-ordinates to the GEOS International Emergency Response Coordination Center (IERCC) which in turn engages with local first responders to swiftly dispatch help to precisely where it’s needed.


Globalstar’s economical SPOT devices safeguard employees for a growing number of organisations worldwide. Over 7,500 rescues have been attributed to SPOT satellite technology to date.


Trackplot originally deployed SPOT Gen2 devices, then Gen3, and recently seamlessly moved to SPOT Gen4, which Globalstar launched in August 2020. This generation has many new features compared to its precedents including more mapping options, improved water resistance and an enhanced user interface. This all adds up to confidence for workers, their colleagues, friends and families.


The Council Structures & Flooding Team member said: “Thanks to the lone worker safety solution provided by Trackplot, alongside Globalstar’s SPOT satellite technology, we can carry out our operations with the peace of mind that support is always on hand in case of an emergency.”


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