Here in the United Kingdom there is very robust legislation to keep staff safe while at work, whether on or off site. Penalties are incredibly high in many circumstances and if someone gets killed as a result of lack of safety solutions or other protection then the full weight of the HSE will bear down on the company.
While common sense might help, often cases arise that simply did not have either the equipment or systems in place to ensure that staff are protected properly with robust systems if an incident should happen on or off site. So what can you do to ensure staff are kept safe? Here we cover a few of the important steps that can help.
On-site Safety
There are so many situations that can create dangerous incidents and it's impossible to cover them all, but ensuring that systems are in place if there is an incident that can be quickly applied really is key. For example, often there might be a first aid emergency procedure in place, but is it actually fit for purpose? It's one thing having a first aid emergency system, but it would be useless if the teams arrived 1/2 hour after the incident!
So what sort of solution for first aid and emergency use on-site could you implement... there are many. One solution is by using first aid emergency wireless calling buttons throughout the whole site. These work as follows:
* Call buttons are placed in important places and denoted as use for first aid and emergency use only
* The first aid and emergency teams have a pager (a SOLT watch pager works well) each
* The system is set up to either message from a given call button to zone first aid employees or everyone
* The teams are notified in the message the exact location of the incident
* First aid or emergency staff attend the incident and quickly offer assistance.
Sometimes the call button solutions can have range issues, but often a repeater (one or more) can extend the range site wide. In this way the first aid response will be immediate and highly effective.
There are other solutions available for areas where there are dangerous working conditions that can operate even in places where there are fumes or risk of explosion. For calling buttons those could not be installed and operated. However walkie talkies with ATEX standards often can be used. All precautions must ensure that the correct level of ATEX protection is chosen when considering 2 way radios.
Off-site Safety
Other advantages of walkie talkies or 2 way radios for on-site use include lone worker and/or man down features that can help to ensure that lone workers are safe and if someone was to fall ill on-site the man down features are excellent. But of course these same wireless radios with the lone worker features are a brilliant way of helping to protect staff off-site. But there is a problem with them... it's one of range.
2 way radios have a finite range typically of around 8 kilometers' and that can even be reduced from the surrounding environment depending on things like hills, buildings and even trees. So what about employees 50 miles or further away? Many might suggest using mobile phones for the communications, after all they can cover the whole of the UK. But using mobile phones is a big mistake as they have inherent problems!
Consider this: Often mobile or cell phones can work flawlessly, but often suffer from either drop outs or literally no signal coverage from the network supplier. And what about those other useful abilities like lone worker and man down features? They simply don't exist. But there is an answer!
Newer technology called LTE or PoC PTT radios overcome the issues dramatically. Here are the features:
* LTE PoC wireless radios use the mobile networks, but can flip to any network that is in the area and will automatically choose the best service.
* These long range walkie talkie radios ca have inbuilt lone worker and/or man down abilities
* The radios are generally made to professional standards
* Range is exceptional (think whole of the UK)
* LTE PoC radios connect to UK servers
* No license required to operate them.
There is often an on-going cost to use LTE PoC PTT radios but that is usually included for the first year when you buy the radios. For on-going costs, those will vary depending on the operator, but can typically be from as low as £50 to around £130 per radio per year. Remember though that there is no other charge for the number of calls you make - its all included in that annual cost. But it is important to understand what cost for safety? Ensuring staff are safe in whatever circumstances should be the priority within your company.
Lastly, if you need continual communications remember that the LTE PoC PTT radios are also available in mobile radio format for in vehicles with these important staff safety features and benefits.
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