Barratt Homes sales staff feel safer with Peoplesafe

(24/09/2008)

Peoplesafe is providing Barratt Homes staff with peace of mind, knowing that they are being monitored in potentially hazardous situations and can discreetly summon help if threatened.

When a recently released prisoner visited one of Barratt Homes sales offices and a consultant had to talk her way out of a potentially volatile situation, Barratt Homes made the decision to upgrade its lone worker support from a personal squealer alarm to the technically advanced Peoplesafe lone worker device.

Prior to purchasing the Peoplesafe service, negotiators working for Barratt Homes Southern Counties had taken advice from the Susie Lamplugh Trust on managing violence and aggression in the workplace. Following the incident with its negotiator the company decided to review its lone worker policy knowing that on certain housing developments, staff work alone in the sales office and whilst showing potential buyers around the site.

“If our negotiator had been equipped with a Peoplesafe device she would have been able to discreetly press the red alert so that her conversation could be listened to and immediate help sent”, said Alison Boyles, Sales Manager at Barratt Homes Southern Counties. “Now our lone workers have peace of mind and feel much safer when they are showing prospective buyers around our sites.”

Now staff working alone at Barratt Homes Southern Counties developments in Sussex, Surrey and North Hampshire press a ‘checking in’ button on the Peoplesafe device to notify their employer when they know they are entering a potentially hazardous situation. If they then have cause to press the red alert, operators at Rocksure’s remote monitoring centre retrieves the information on their locality, listens in on the line to what is happening and co-ordinates the appropriate emergency support – involving the police if necessary.

Rocksure Systems’ Peoplesafe service is designed to encompass every aspect of a company’s need to provide duty of care to its employees when working alone. The service includes the Peoplesafe unit, operator response, tracking, training, configuration with the most appropriate mobile network and ongoing support.

The Peoplesafe device resembles a normal ID holder but is in fact packed with the latest mobile technology. It enables a lone worker to discreetly raise an alarm if threatened and also allows the monitoring centre to listen to what is happening and record events whatever the distance. The device can also support the pinpointing of a worker’s location using GSM/LBS technology.

The device includes a lanyard attachment that enables it to be worn around the neck as a standard ID and hides a ‘rip alarm’ function, which is triggered if the unit is forcibly removed from the wearer. Peoplesafe is flexible enough to be configured in a number of ways, allowing an employer to adopt the device without the need to significantly change current working practices.

Related topics:  Lone worker protection   Monitoring systems   Physical protection   Safety and protection systems   Security guarding 

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