Working Together to Protect Lone Workers Within the Social

Housing Sector

Putting Lone Working on the Health & Safety Agenda.

Who am I?Who are North Star?What did we want to do?Why?What challenges did we face?How did we find a resolution?

Why did we choose Peoplesafe?What made them stand out?How have things worked?What have been the benefits?What are the next steps?

Who am I?

• Keith Saunders• Group ICT Manager, North Star Housing Group• Been with the organisation 6 years• Worked in Social Housing for 27 years • Passionate about what we do, and how we do it• Care about the people that provide those services

Who are North Star Housing Group?• Registered Provider based in Stockton-on-Tees• Formed in 2006• Non-asset holding parent of Endeavour & Teesdale

Housing Associations• Endeavour is 40 years old this year• EHA Manage approx 3000 properties mainly in Tees Valley

corridor• Teesdale is an LSVT formed in 2006• Transfer from Teesdale District Council• Manage approximately 900 properties in County Durham

What did we want to do? Why? What were our challenges?

• Ensure the safety of all Lone Workers• Ensure all Lone Workers felt safe• We take our responsibility for people and H&S seriously• Historical issues around ownership• Utilising old technology on new hardware• Smartphones & new ways of working• Real challenges in Teesdale with network availability

What was the solution?Peoplesafe on your smartphone application

• The Peoplesafe lone worker service can be enabled on smartphones by loading the unique software application onto the handset. • A call for assistance is easily achieved through a simple button press or by shaking the handset.• This then opens a two way communication with the 24/7 monitoring centre alongside a GPS location which will enable help to be sent to the right location.

What are the benefits?

• Able to utilise our existing smartphones • Ease of use and easy set up• BS8484 compliant • Multiple dedicated ways to engage an alert • 24/7 Lone Worker monitoring • GPS location available • Activity timer • Two-way communication • Man Down idle detection

How did we go about it?

• Worked with our Lone Workers• What were concerns?• What were needs?• What were desires?

• Assessed options for:• Organisation• Individuals

• Developed approach to combat network issues

Why did we choose Peoplesafe?

• Range of Options Available• Their enthusiasm to work with us• Their knowledge of our needs• Our experience of them• Fully accredited monitoring• Flexible on-site training• Scalable solutions to meet our needs• Solutions design

What made them stand out?• Different Options to suit:• Different People • Different Situations

Peoplesafe’s lone worker monitoring is conducted by First County Monitoring. The Remote Monitoring Centre (RMC) provides a fully managed 24/7/365 lone worker monitoring service from staff who are fully trained in the management of the Peoplesafe lone worker service. The RMC is accredited to NSI Gold Standard, BS8484, BS5979 CAT II and ISO9000.

What made them stand out?Vision Management Platform

• This is a dynamic multi-layer, multi-platform lone worker reporting tool designed to enhance the management and supervision of lone workers.

• Through live updates from the lone worker device, Vision provides a fully managed and intuitive service that gives managers access to real time information about the locations, activities and security events of their lone workers.

• Vision enables a manager to quickly and effectively locate their lone workers and help manage risks and potential threats to staff during their working day, improving the effectiveness and support to the manager during any incident.

How has all that worked?

• Staff feel confident and less threatened• There is a belief in the solution• Involvement was fundamental• Combination of systems provides greater

confidence• H&S lives within the organisation, particularly

Lone Working

What have been the benefits ofThe peoplesafe service?

• Vision Platform and reporting allows:• Monitoring of adherence to policy• Greater management of usage• Ability to view staff location

• Business and user confidence in systems• Lone Working sits permanently on H&S agenda

What are the next steps?

• Role out Vision system further• Continued working with Peoplesafe on future

technologies• Review of existing working and enhance?

Any Questions?