London Overground Rail Operations Ltd (LOROL), which last November took over suburban routes previously operated by Silverlink, is helping protect its staff from accidents and verbal and physical abuse with a lone worker device.
As LOROL is providing staff at previously unmanned stations on the Gospel Oaks to Barking Line who might confront potentially abusive situations, it wanted to ensure that its staff had the ability to discreetly summon help if threatened or if they had an accident or were taken ill.
As part of its seven-year contract with Transport for London (TfL), LOROL is ensuring that all stations are manned from 15 minutes prior to the first train in the morning until 15 minutes after the last train has departed at night. These stations include nine that have been unmanned for 10 years serving communities facing more ‘social challenge’.
Looking at ways of protecting staff, Mungo Duncan, Health and Safety Manager at LOROL turned to his provider, ManGuard to see if they could recommend a means of supporting members of staff who might work alone. ManGuard suggested SoloProtect.
"We looked at other solutions but SoloProtect provided the best possible protection for our staff," said Mungo Duncan. "We were particularly impressed with the Identicom i770 device with man-down detection, which addresses the risk of verbal and physical abuse as well accidents."
After a trial, LOROL has bought 97 Identicom i770 units as part of the SoloProtect solution, which are being used by platform staff, station assistants and ticket inspectors. Feedback from staff has been very positive as they view the introduction of Identicom as providing them with additional levels of security and confidence.
"Our staff have found the Identicom units simple to use, robust and reliable," said Mungo Duncan. "SoloProtect also provided us with what we needed in a straightforward package at a cost effective price", he added.
When an employee feels they are entering a potentially hazardous situation, they press an amber alert button, which notifies SoloProtect’s monitoring centre. In this way, the monitoring centre is able to note the wearer’s location and raise the alarm if the amber alert is not cancelled within a predetermined period. If the red alert is then pressed the centres’ support staff can discreetly listen in to what is happening and make an assessment as to the support required – involving the police if necessary. In the event of a verbal confrontation, the centre can also record the conversation.
Winner of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) IFSEC Security Industry Innovation Award 2007, SoloProtect is described as the only solution on the market that truly addresses the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) guidelines that explicitly rule out the use of mobile phones and demand a reduction in false alarms. SoloProtect combines the ACPO-accredited Identicom with a 24/7 manned monitoring service accredited to the highest UK standard, BS5979 Cat II, with Reliance Security. SoloProtect provide end user training, which has been delivered to thousands of lone workers, included in a fixed monthly fee.
