Why Invest in a Lone Worker Safety Monitoring Service?
This is a guest article by Paul Turner, VP of Sales and Marketing at Aware360, a leading lone worker safety solutions provider based in Canada.
Some businesses are still a little wary about investing in a real time monitoring solution for lone worker safety.
They say, “We have our workers phone in to say they’re safe, in these tough economic times why do we have to invest in an entirely new solution?”
It’s kind of like asking why you would ever need a CRM for lead generation rather than sticking with a spreadsheet.
The answer of course is to increase efficiency and safety.
Telephone-Based Lone Worker Safety Programs Do Not Keep Employees Safe
At this very moment there are companies all over North America who rely on the telephone or emails for their lone worker safety programs.
It’s an inefficient system that doesn’t really keep workers safe, but employers are obeying the letter, if not the spirit, of lone worker safety legislation.
By law, lone workers must check in at set times with their employer to confirm they are safe. At many companies a manager or supervisor is tasked with receiving these calls.
For employees, taking the time to stop what they’re doing and call in to HQ can completely disrupt their schedule.
On top of that, managers and supervisors are typically a harried, overworked breed whose valuable time could be put to better use.
Even worse, what happens when an employee fails to phone in and the manager doesn’t notice?
“What happens when an employee fails to phone-in and the manager doesn’t notice?”
While the employee may simply be too busy to have made the call, there is also the possibility they’re in serious trouble and are unable to contact anyone for help.
Meaning this traditional version of a lone worker safety program isn’t really going to keep workers safe in all circumstances.
To solve this issue, some businesses pay third-party call centers to receive and make calls to workers to determine if they are safe. While this system is reliable, it can be costly without real time alerts (more on this below).
And what if an employee is out of cellular service where satellite phones are inconsistent and extremely expensive?
Here comes the game-changer, real time alerts and notifications.
The Game-Changer: Real Time Alerts
Instead of having to take time every couple hours to phone in, lone workers can instead touch a button on a mobile app or satellite device to confirm they are safe.
These real time devices and apps also allow for workers to send alerts or an SOS when they need assistance or are in danger.
The alert is then transmitted in real time to a monitor who can quickly follow a emergency protocol and send help if needed.
The result? True two-way communication, allowing the monitor to broadcast alerts to all employees for weather alerts, road conditions or for general information, regardless if they are in cellular or satellite coverage.
“So, not only do real time alerts protect your workforce, they also increase worker productivity and reduce the costs of human error.”
So, not only do real time alerts protect your workforce, they also increase worker productivity and reduce the costs of human error – fewer people will be directly involved in facilitating lone worker safety, and the ones who are will spend less time doing so.
What’s the ROI of Using a Technology-Based Lone Worker Safety Solution?
Aware360’s research working with hundreds of companies and clients shows that the decision to implement a Real Time Alert Monitoring solution will result in significant return on investment (ROI) compared to sticking with a Voice-Based Safety Monitoring service.
But how much ROI? The surprising answer is that, according to our customers on an annual basis a Real Time Alert Monitoring solution is nearly 50% of the cost of a traditional Voice-Based Safety Monitoring service.
Aware360 determined this near-50% cost savings after looking at the cost of the following three variables common to both voice- and technology-based lone worker safety solutions:
- Cost of monitoring
- Employee time cost
- Technology cost
Examining these three variables, it’s possible to determine how much it will cost businesses to use a Voice-Base Safety Monitoring solution.
Answer: A Savings of Nearly 50%
Working with one of our clients who was spending $120,000 per year using a Voice-Based Safety Monitoring solution to monitor a team of 1,000 employees, we have been able to reduce their cost to just $65,000 using a technology-based real time Alert Monitoring solution.
That’s a savings of nearly 50%.
We determined one business could save 50% monitoring the safety 1,000 workers using a technology-based real time Alert Monitoring solution.
So, our customers actually save a significant amount of money when they implement a lone worker solution. And most importantly: a technology-based solution helps keep your workers safer.
And that’s really what our mission is all about.
Paul Turner is VP of Sales and Marketing at Aware360, BC SafetyLink’s WorkAlone platform provider and a leading lone work solutions provider. We help to we help hundreds of businesses become more efficient, increase revenue while keeping their employees safe. You can contact Paul Turner here.
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